ESEF to begin enrollment drive on 15th

PESHAWAR: Elementary and Secondary Education Foundation (ESEF) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is set to launch a massive enrolment drive across the province for the upcoming academic year in order to bring more and more out-of-school children to the non-formal educational institutions and promote education, an official said on Wednesday.

“The drive will be formally started from February 15 in which some 150,000 more children are expected to be enrolled in the community schools as well as private institutions under the Education Support Scheme,” said Zariful Maani, managing director of the foundation.

He was speaking at a training workshop on communication and social media skills held here. The drive would be launched at the 26 districts of the province, where ESEF has been successfully operating.

The enrollment drive will be focused on increasing access to education for students who may not have the resources and support to attend formal schooling. “The ESEF has already launched a number of initiatives to promote quality education in a non-formal manner especially in areas where formal educational institutions are not available,” he added.

The ESEF programmes include Girls Community School (GCS), Basic Education community school (BECS), National Commission for Human Development (NCHD)-established institutions, Education Support Scheme (ESS), New School Initiative (NSI) and Participatory Online and Home Learning Alternative (POHA), he said. The students fully supported these programmes, he added.

The training session was conducted by journalist Dr Yousaf Ali, and social media experts Tahirullah and Ayaz Khan. The event was also attended by deputy managing director of the foundation Javed Iqbal, director programmes Habibur Rahman Orakzai, Khan Mohammad, Prof Gulzar Hussain and a number of officials and representatives of different districts.

“We are committed to providing quality education to all students, regardless of their background and financial situation. Our goal is to ensure that every student has the opportunity to have easy access to quality education at their door steps,” Zariful Maani said.

Javed Iqbal said that students would be enrolled in some 4000 locations in the 26 districts of the province. The drive would cost an estimated fund of Rs1.2 million, which would be provided by a number of donors.

Habibur Rahman Orakzai said that in order to make the drive a complete success a proper awareness campaign would be launched in the districts concerned. Door-to-door visits would be carried out and corner meetings would be arranged at the community center to build more and more awareness among the masses about the drive, he added.

He said that the village education committees, local government representatives, prayer leaders and local elders would be engaged in the awareness campaign. He expressed his optimism that the awareness campaign and the subsequent enrollment drive would prove a big success.