Under its Rehabilitating Infrastructure for Supporting Education (RISE) Project, Islamic Relief Pakistan has constructed 15 worst flood-hit schools in district Muzaffargarh, said Country Director Dr Fayyaz Ahmad on Tuesday.
He said that it is vital to invest in the education system of the country to achieve education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and enable all children to get free education.
“Islamic Relief has so far constructed 15 schools for boys and girls in the flood-hit district Muzaffargarh and installed water pumps, hand pumps and filtration plants. It has also constructed solid waste collection, arranged teachers’ training, distributed stationery, school bags and playing kits besides renovating playgrounds. In collaboration with the government and school committees, we have ensured that children are engaged in both the curricular and extracurricular activities,” Dr Fayyaz Ahmad added.
Humanitarian Programme head Umair Hassan said around 20 million children in Pakistan were not going to schools, adding education system was not good while condition in disasters-affected areas was the worst. “We need to ensure free and quality education for all children; especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged need to be prioritised because the social and economic development of Pakistan depends on the success of its education. We at Islamic Relief are investing in children and their education through our emergency and long-term development programmes to get positive socio-economic impacts,” he further said.
“It is also necessary to stop dropout ratio in schools and Islamic Relief is also encouraging parents and communities to ensure that all children of their areas are enrolled in schools. A special focus was being placed on enrolling girls,” he stated.
“The right of children to receive an education is enshrined in the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’ and Pakistan is a signatory to it,” he said.
