Rs28m missing facilities provided to 3,577 schools

LAHORE: As a token of support for the provision of quality education to the marginalised children, Alight Pakistan has provided school supplies and missing facilities worth Rs28.6 million in 3,577 non-formal primary education schools being run by the Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) departments across Pakistan.

The government is running the nationwide network of non-formal primary education programme in all provinces and regions of Pakistan, which is named as Basic Education Community Schools.

Alight as a partner of BECS has provided necessary supplies, including chairs, blackboards, water coolers, mats, attendance registers and stationery items for the students.

The supplies have been provided in total 3,577 BECS, including 2,025 non-formal schools and literacy schools in Punjab, 533 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 450 in Sindh, 244 in Islamabad Capital Territory, 211 in Gilgit-Baltistan, 92 in Azad Jammu & Kashmir and in 22 non-formal schools in Balochistan.

The children, mostly belonging to the poor families especially in the rural areas, have been enrolled in the Basic Education Community Schools and literacy centres, who even cannot afford uniforms, shoes and books.

The kids’ strength in every Basic Education Community School varies from 25 to 30 where one teacher preferably female is responsible for their education by adopting multi-grade teaching methods based on concurrent curriculum.

The teachers’ honorarium, learning material and textbooks are provided by the government while the community has to provide the space for the establishment of the non-formal school.

The BECS extend free and flexible learning opportunities to out-of-school children and are playing an important role in strengthening the education sector at the grassroots level and promote literacy.

Provision of the school supplies and missing facilities will help the children get quality education,” said Dr Tariq Cheema, country representative Alight Pakistan, adding that that the BECS’ non-formal schools are providing great educational opportunities to out-of-school children, especially the girls who otherwise would have been deprived of access to education due to poverty and other social taboos.