“Over half a million school-age children shall be enrolled in schools during a three-day special nationwide enrolment campaign from September 9 to 11 to celebrate September 8’s International Literacy Day.
Federal Planning, Development, and Reforms Minister Ahsan Iqbal said this while talking to the media personnel. He said that the government would fight illiteracy on an emergency basis. Without producing world class human resources, we have no chance of survival in today’s competitive world, he added.
Furthermore, he said “Pakistan lags behind all South Asian countries. We are living in the knowledge revolution era and our development journey must start with education and end with education. The number of children out of school in Pakistan amounts to nearly 25 million. The average number of years of schooling completed is 4.9 years in the case of Pakistan, slightly ahead of Angola and Bangladesh. There are only 13 countries in the world with lower adult literacy rates according to data compiled by the United Nations. These countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Mali and are collectively some of the poorest countries in the world.”
He also said that “This three-day enrolment campaign shall be run by all provincial governments, AJK, GB, and FATA. The prime minister, cabinet members, chief ministers, governors, parliamentarians, and senior officials will visit primary schools to personally enrol these children. The media will be requested to run special programs.”
