Virtual visit of educational, training centres

Islamabad : Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) virtually visits the Siyani Sahelian/Advancing Action for Adolescent Girls (A3G) educational and training centres, says a press release.

Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) paid a virtual visit to the educational and training sites of the Siyani Sahelian programme (2018-2021) being implemented in South Punjab by Idara-e-Taleem o Agaahi (ITA) and supported by FCDO. During the visit he interacted with the teams running the programme and spoke with beneficiaries currently enrolled in various strands.

The visit included participation of the Minister, Dr. Christian Turner, British High Commissioner, Baela Raza Jamil, CEO ITA, Saima Anwer, Senior Education Advisor FCDO, Saba Saeed, Senior Program Manager ITA and various representation from FCDO and ITA.

The first virtual site visit was at one of the remedial learning centres located in Rahimyar Khan. The beneficiaries of the programme who are finishing their middle education with Siyani Sahelian programme shared their individual stories with the participants as well as social and cultural barriers they encounter followed by their experiences with distance learning modules introduced to ensure continued learning in COVID-19. The second visit was to a TVET centre in the village Mehrab Wala in the district of Bahawalpur.

The centre offers the skill set of Gota Kinari, a skill highly marketable which includes metal embroidery through which elaborate patterns are created by applique work. The beneficiaries of this strand talked about the challenges pertaining to adolescent girls in their remote location as well as their hope for future economic empowerment and the additional trainings they are receiving on enterprise development. It was endearing for the girls to converse in their native language with the minister who in turn was excited to meet the beneficiaries and hear about their experiences and learning curve.

The virtual visit ended with closing remarks by the Minister who talked about the long-standing partnership between the UK and Pakistan.