Rotary plans to work for quality education

Karachi
The endeavor of education and literacy in Pakistan needs drastic intervention as well as improvement. Successive governments have announced various programs to promote literacy but they have been unable to translate their words into action because of various political, social and cultural obstacles.
M. Faiz Kidwai, chair of Rotary Pakistan Literacy Mission, says in a write-up: “We as a nation are now more committed to total literacy than we were ever before and Rotary Pakistan Literacy Mission is playing its role in improving quality of education at grassroots level.”
“We are also working to bring more children to schools and are committed to implementing Rotary’s TEACH program for a literate Pakistan.”
According to the writer, there are 163,000 primary schools in Pakistan, of which merely 40,000 cater to girls. Of these, 15,000 are in Punjab, 13,000 in Sindh, 8,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 4,000 in Balochistan.
Our literacy rate is said to be 56 percent and a person is considered as literate in Pakistan who can write his or her name, so we can imagine the reliability of this figure.
As part of Rotary South Asia Literacy Mission which has resolved to work for total literacy and quality education in South Asia, “we in Pakistan have initiated the launching of TEACH program and have established Rotary Pakistan Literacy Mission with the prime objective to work for a Literate Pakistan. We have planned to achieve the literacy goal through the T-E-A-C-H program specifically developed by the Rotarians of the region.
Kidwai says: “The TEACH program not just covers all aspects of literacy and education but it also focus on all areas of our needs. It is indeed a gigantic task ahead and on the face of it many may think that this will remain a dream.
“But Rotary and Rotarians with the experience of working for a Polio free world can easily vouch to work for an Illiteracy free world. In Pakistan although we still have to become Polio free but soon I am sure we will achieve our Polio free dream. The Total Literacy mission will also further help us in our efforts to eradicate Polio from the face of this earth.”