‘After defeating terrorism, our fight is against ignorance’

Islamabad : Federal Minister for Education Shahfqat Mahmood on Monday said after winning the war against terrorism, the government is fighting another war against ignorance and poverty for the country's progress and prosperity.

"We are committed to eradicating illiteracy by enrolling all dropouts and street children in schools for providing equal education opportunities to underprivileged and poor segment of the society," he to the inauguration ceremony of a special school enrollment campaign in Jamrud area.

The campaign called 'Ao Bacho School Chalein 'Come on kids, let's go to school) to encourage out-of-school children to enrol across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mehmud and Adviser Education Ziaullah Bangash were also present in the ceremony besides parents of students, and officials of the education department.

The education minister said the efforts were underway to get enrolled 800,000 children in schools of the province this year. He said currently, around 20 million children were out of school in the country.

The minister said many children could not continue education owing to the long distance between their homes and schools as they could not bear travelling expenses. Shafqat Mehmood said the government had resolved to promote literacy across the country.

He also appreciated teachers especially women who come from far-off areas to teach schoolchildren in the tribal districts and said they deserved to be rewarded.