BISP to enrol two million children in schools by end of 2016

ISLAMABAD: The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is planning to enrol two million children in schools by the end of this year.

This was stated by Minister of State and BISP Chairperson MNA Marvi Memon in a meeting with DFID delegation, development partner of BISP, headed by Country Head Joanna Reid. The other members of delegation included Louise Walker and Mazhar Siraj. The BISP chairperson was assisted by BISP Secretary Muhammad Sallem Ahmed Ranjha and the management.

The agenda of the meeting was to review the progress on the ongoing BISP initiatives that included an update on the National Socio Economic Registry (NSER), new payment model and implementation arrangements for the conditional cash transfer (CCT) on education. The meeting also reviewed progress on the overall reforms undertaken by the BISP management.

The BISP chairperson told the delegation that by December 2015, 1 million children had been enrolled under the Waseela-e-Taleem (WeT) initiative and the target of enrolling 1.3 million children by the end of financial year 2015-16 will be achieved two months in advance as 200,000 children will be enrolled in the month of April as a special challenge.

She stated that the BISP intends to expand WeT across the country beyond the current 32 districts so that the maximum number of deserving children may exercise their right to education. She reiterated that the cooperation of DFID and other development partners will be critical in the expansion drive of WeT.

It was highlighted that the MoUs have been signed with provincial and regional educational departments except KPK for enrolment and attendance compliance. However, the BISP was optimistic that the MoU with KP will be signed soon.

On NSER update, the delegation was informed that the task was on track. The secretary BISP apprised the participants that pilot phase of NSER update will be initiated in June 2016 in 16 districts followed by a national roll out in January 2017.

During the meeting, the new payment model for ensuring the smooth functioning of the initiatives was also discussed. The delegation appreciated the performance of BISP, especially for meeting the required targets.