Interior minister hails philanthropists working for cause of education

KARACHI: Federal Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal here on Tuesday appreciated local philanthropists working for the cause of education among marginalised sections of the society.

During his visit to the Sindh Muslim Board (SMB) Fatima Jinnah School (FJS) for Girls run by a local NGO Zindagi Trust, headed by pop star Shahzad Roy, the minister said women empowerment can be actually materialised through sound schooling and proper grooming of the female children.

The federal minister said that government has accorded top priority to education and health sectors, however, adequate support by NGOs to meet the need of growing population will always be welcomed.

He appreciated Shehzad Roy and his team for their tireless efforts for a cause that was crucial for the social stability of the country.

Later, the pop star talking to APP said that the government school for girls, located in one of the most thickly populated areas of Karachi, was adopted by Zindagi Trust to help students and their teachers and provided them with a proper atmosphere.

The building of the school, at the time of its adoption, was said to be crumbling and the number of students dwindling fast.

“We wanted to contain the situation ensuring that girls, mainly belonging to low socio-economic sections of society, may not be denied their right to education,” said Roy.

He also mentioned that his trust does not collect donations of any sort and the members of the trust, from different walks of life, regularly contribute to the cause.

“The mechanism is absolutely transparent and we have a governing board that keeps a strict vigil on the functioning of the school,” he said.

In reply to a question, he said that attention was paid to impart quality education coupled with extra effort to attract students towards modern day technology. To another query, he said that sports and recreational activities were also streamlined enabling girls of the school to emerge as sound and confident members of the society.

“Students of SMB FJS have in fact carved a niche for themselves, winning numerous inter-school contests and competitions,” he concluded.