PESHAWAR: The joy on the faces and brightness in the eyes of the brilliant students, mostly girls from impoverished families, were worth seeing as they were brought to the provincial metropolis to visit some leading educational institutions and other places to learn and enjoy.
The beautiful weather doubled their happiness. Some 96 students studying in various grades right from nursery until BS with a majority of orphaned girls hailing from Hazara, Malakand and Mardan division were part of the ‘study tour’.
A nontraditional reception had been hosted for them at the Institute of Criminology where they were accorded the warmest welcome.The children have been pursuing their education in their respective areas under the scholarship programme of Canadian Association for Children Education in Pakistan (CACEP), a Canadian organisation striving for promotion of girls’ education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The programme is being implemented with the volunteer support of a local non-governmental body known as Haashar Association.Some leading figures from different fields were there at the institution to receive those brilliant students.
Prominent among them were Prof Dr Aamir Jamaal, who serves as a professor in a Canadian University and is the architect of the programme, Zariful Maani, Secretary Food Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Habibur Rahman, Director Programmes Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation, Anees Ahmad Khan of Haashar Association, Dr Basharat Hussain, Director Institute of Criminology, Noor Jamal, Commandant Police University Campus Peshawar, Dr Mohammad Ibrar from the Institute of Criminology, Dr Waqar from Qurtuba University, Mahmud Jan Babar, Mohammad Sher and others.
The students and the senior fellows from different walks of life exchanged their views in a lighter but meaningful manner at a session that was very skillfully moderated by Dr Aamir Jamaal.
The students shared their experiences. They poke well about CACEP, which they said, served a fatherly role in their life and education. The students were then taken to Pakistan Forest Institute and Peshawar Zoo.
The scholarship programme was launched in 2014 to promote girls’ education in the province. The main focus of the progamme is to provide education opportunities to children from poor families in conflict-affected areas with the support of local volunteers and donors from abroad. Most of the children, enrolled in various institutions under the programme, are either orphans or bright children from families with desperate financial needs.