President praises role of charities to educate children in backward areas

President Dr Arif Alvi has said that dedicated charities striving to educate children of the backward areas of the country are truly sharing the responsibility of the state, and it is obligatory upon all the concerned segments of the society to fully support their charitable work.

He expressed these views during a meeting with a delegation of the non-profit Green Crescent Trust (GCT), which called on him at Governor House, Karachi, on Tuesday. The delegation was headed by GCT CEO Zahid Saeed.

Speaking on the occasion, President Alvi said cultural change was needed to improve the girls’ retention level in schools. He appreciated the R&D activities carried out by GCT to highlight the resources being spent on education by the federal government and all federating units in order to sensitise the people about the optimal usage of resources.

Highlighting the importance of the structural improvements in the education system, the president said that the training of teachers was a must for imparting quality education. He said public funds allocated for the education sector should be spent in the most judicious manner and with utmost financial prudence.

He stated that he would urge the relevant stakeholders in the education sector to come up with a firm strategy to ensure the best utilisation of the education budget of Pakistan for securing the future of the children enrolled in schools.

The GCT chief executive officer briefed the president about the various proposals for improving the education sector. He said that the GCT for the last 27 years had managed a network of 150 plus charitable schools in the least developed parts of Sindh having enrolment of 29,000 children form destitute families.

He said that the GCT’s Vision-2025 stood for establishing a total of 250 such schools in the province, having enrolment of 100,000 children of needy families, and alliances were being formed with likeminded charities to achieve this goal.

President Alvi appreciated the vision of the GCT and assured the delegation that the present government would provide support for such noble philanthropic work.

He also underlined the need to adopt a futuristic approach towards education and to focus on the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the mainstream education system.