ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform on Friday formally launched the month-long national primary enrollment campaign “Chalo School”.
The minister launched the campaign at a government school in Narowal district with the slogan “Let’s pledge, no child out of school”, said a press release issued here.
Speaking at the ceremony, Ahsan Iqbal said, “Children aged between five to nine years will be enrolled under this campaign.”
All the provincial governments, he said, would take special steps to enroll children in schools during the month of April.
The federal government would coordinate with all the provinces to make this campaign a success for an educated Pakistan, he added.
Ahsan Iqbal said the new age is the age of knowledge education and research, where were key for economic development in today’s world.
He said Pakistan’s problems stemmed from the policies of the past when education was not given top priority.
However, the present government was giving top priority to education, which was reflected from the increased budget for higher education, he added.
The minister said that every child had to be educated to make Pakistan sovereign and developed in real terms.
He pointed out that those nations were conspiring against themselves, which had plunged in ignorance and illiteracy.
“Education is key to eliminate the social inequalities in the society,” he added.
The minister said unfortunately, Pakistan was among the countries having the highest number of Out-of-School Children (OOSC).
This National Primary Enrollment Campaign would help to reduce drastically number of OOSC, he hoped.
Ahsan Iqbal said the government was striving to build up knowledge economy under its Vision-2025 and this primary enrollment drive was part of it.
He said every child was also required to be enrolled to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.
However, apart international obligation, “enrollment of OOSC is also needed for our own sake as part of our national development agenda,” he said.
Source: APP
