Pakistan’s progress on economic front depends upon literate youth: Ahsan Iqbal

Islamabad

The widening gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘haves-not’ should be bridged by our youth because they have to help the children acquiring education with the best of their ability. This division should not be there in our future generation. If Pakistan has to progress we should take care of our generation so that they become literate and contribute to the country’s economy, said Federal Minister for Planning Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal.

He stated this while addressing the inaugural session of ‘Ilmpossible’ Summit held at the Pak-China Friendship Centre here on Wednesday. To celebrate making 'Ilmpossible' for children and the work of the ‘Ilmbassadors’, Mohallah Committees, and partners, British Council hosted a two day ‘Ilmpossible’ Summit.

The summit was inaugurated by Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal. Sindh Education & Literacy Department Additional Chief Secretary Fazalullah Pechuho and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Additional Director Sultan Mehmood also attended the summit and spoke on education issues related to their provinces. Additionally, singers Shehzad Roy and Ibrar-ul-Haq also participated in the event to show their support for the cause.

Ahsan Iqbal said that Ilm Pakistan, an initiative of Ministry of Planning and Development and ‘Ilmpossible’ of the British Council, would be a joint venture where university students could identify the dropout students. “It is unfortunate that the previous government didn’t pay much attention to education and health sector. This government along with the collaboration of provincial government is now focussing on various aspects of education, including quality education through National Curriculum Council, reforms in boards and teacher training/capacity building skills. With these changes in education sector, we are foreseeing a transformational change in two to three years. The government has requested The British Council to formulate a curriculum for public schools to which they have agreed and we would, over a period of time, would bridge the gap between public and private school education,” he said. 

Peter Upton, country director of The British Council, said" “'Ilmpossible' is one of those rare programmes where people and communities come together to make a difference and achieve the impossible. If 10,500 dedicated Active Citizens can achieve this, think what a 100,000 can do. Each child matters and with more Active Citizens we could ensure that in every district across Pakistan, children would be supported by Mohallah Committees and their community.

The ‘Ilmpossible’ Summit 2015 event celebrated the success and commitment of ‘Ilmbassadors’ by bringing the best and the brightest together for a two-day event with discussions, debates, conversations and showcasing of various enrolment and retention initiatives from across Pakistan.

The British Council’s ‘Ilmpossible: Take A Child to School’ is a national programme co-funded by Educate A Child. It aims to enrol 135,000 out-of-school children into government primary schools by 2017 and ensure their retention for three years through a robust follow-up and monitoring mechanism.

‘Take A Child to School’ (TACS) employs a participatory approach, by selecting groups of young volunteers ‘Ilmbassadors’ from target communities and training them on debate dialogue, advocacy, and community development through social actions.  Keeping in view the local education context, TACS programme ensures the active involvement of parents, teachers and community influencers through the formation of Mohalla Committees in targeted districts. The different community stakeholders in Mohallah Committees interact and coordinate with youth volunteers to ensure enrolment and retention of previously out-of-school children.

While talking to ‘The News’, the Sindh Community Foundation spokesperson said that Sindh Community Foundation (SCF) is implementing ‘Take a Child to School’ project in two districts of Sindh province of TM Khan and Matairi since April 2014. The project is aimed to engage the committees and under them a group of active citizens who are also dubbed as ‘Ilm’ ambassadors for the purpose. Its just the advocacy and awareness that we are giving them and the parents are themselves cooperating and enrolling in schools.

Another key component of the programme is ‘Dosti’ through which children receive physical education and learn life skills. ‘Dosti’ is designed to make school a more enriching and appealing experience for children and thus helps to increase retention rates in schools.

‘Ilmpossible’ is reaching out to children from the marginalised communities across Pakistan through its ‘Ilmbassadors’, Mohalla Committees and partners. “I like the teachers and have fun playing cricket in the playground with my friends. I want to become a teacher when I grow up. Before I started school I used to walk around the streets to sell apples and oranges with my father. I couldn’t read or write. Now I am learning… In our last test I came first in our class and my teacher praised me in front of the whole class,” says seven-year-old Asad enrolled in school through ‘Ilmpossible: TACS’.

‘ILMPOSSIBLE: TACS’ has three strategic partners (Children’s Global Network Pakistan, School of Leadership Foundation and Free and Fair Election Network) and 27 implementation partners that provide technical and on-the-ground support for the programme.