Education Fund for Sindh – EFS & BRAC Pakistan Join Hands with the Support of UK Government’s DFID to Spread Education in Sindh
As part of this strategic partnership, EFS will provide funding to BRAC Pakistan enabling quality education for the underprivileged
Karachi – 25th November, 2013: In a meeting held today by Education Fund for Sindh (EFS), EFS provided a commitment of PKR 284.3 million to BRAC Pakistan under one of its programmes, which supports sustainable partnerships for providing quality education in underprivileged communities of Sindh.
The agreement provides for establishing 700 schools in the districts of Karachi, Khairpur and Qambar Shahdad Kot for 21,000 children, with special focus on girls’ education, where they will get an opportunity to pursue quality education. The agreement will remain valid for one year and will be renewed on an annual basis.
This outreach programme establishes schools in far-flung and under-privileged areas of Sindh to provide education to out of school children who would not have had a chance to attend school otherwise.
Education Fund for Sindh (EFS), is a not-for-profit company (a company set up under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984) which addresses the current education crisis in Pakistan through a multi-faceted strategy that focuses on grass-root level support to families, capacity building of schools and NGO partnering for extensive reach of its programs that focus on identifying out of school children and providing access to school education. EFS’s primary funding partner at the moment is the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), with which EFS is a listed project.
Under the Intermediaries programme EFS provides access to education by funding existing private educational organizations in Sindh and the key to this programme is to gain synergies in leveraging existing infrastructure. Additionally, EFS will also aim to build capacity of intermediaries to meet demand requirements.
Speaking at the ceremony, Khawaja Adeel Aslam, CEO – EFS, shared the vision of the organization, “Our dream is that every child in Pakistan has access to good quality, cost effective education”. He emphasized the importance of this programme, “this partnership between EFS and BRAC Pakistan holds great promise as a model for addressing the education crisis in Pakistan. EFS is committed to provide as much support as possible to the programme to increase the number of children who get free school education under this program in the coming years”.
“On a global level, BRAC specializes in providing education to the under-privileged children in the most stricken regions. Together we can significantly improve the education scope in Pakistan by making sure that every child attends school from an early age. At EFS, providing quality education to out of school children is our primary goal. Every child deserves education and a better future; we hope that our support will help children to fulfill their dreams”. He further added, “We at EFS are grateful to DFID which not only is our primary funding partner, but also played a key role in facilitating this partnership between EFS and BRAC Pakistan”.
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Speaking at the occasion Mr. Muzaffar Ud Din – CEO / Country Representative BRAC Pakistan said, “Firstly, I must congratulate both the parties on this significant alliance for the overall betterment of Pakistan and the education sector in particular. There is a lot of work to be done both in terms of reach and quality of education in Pakistan, our initial project aims to provide free education to 21,000 children of which majority will be females. The idea behind ensuring children attend school is not just to educate, but also to develop communities that are healthy, crime-free and self-subsistent on a long term basis”.
According to UNICEF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics approx. 6.5 million children in Pakistan are out of school indicating that a large number of children of primary school going age are not enrolled in schools as they can’t afford it. In this “state of emergency”, the alliance between EFS and BRAC Pakistan is certainly a leap towards development and a beacon of light for the future generation of Pakistan.
For Further Information:
A.H. Asad Mughni – 0301- 8590010
Brand & Corporate Communications Manager
asad.mughni@efs.org.pk
About EFS:
Education Fund for Sindh – EFS, established in 2012, is a not for profit company (a company set up under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984). EFS is governed by an independent board which comprises some of the most well-known and accomplished people from the corporate sector of Pakistan. EFS addresses the current education crisis in Pakistan through a multi-faceted strategy that focuses on grass-root level support to families, capacity building of schools and NGO partnering for extensive reach of its programs that focus on identifying out of school children and providing access to school education. EFS’s primary donor at the moment is the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) with which EFS is a listed project. EFS is working with the scope of implementing the following programs:
Education Voucher Scheme
Intermediaries Program
Public Private Partnership Program
Website: www.efs.org.pk
About BRAC
BRAC is a global development organisation dedicated to alleviating poverty by empowering the poor to bring about change in their own lives. BRAC’s holistic approach aims to achieve large scale, positive changes through economic and social programmes that enable women and men to realize their potential. BRAC was launched in Bangladesh in 1972 and today reaches more than 138 million people throughout Africa and Asia. It does so through its programmes that address poverty by providing micro-loans, self-employment and educational opportunities, and health, legal and human rights services. BRAC is working towards the vision of building “a world free from exploitation and discrimination where youth has the opportunity to realize their potential”. BRAC began working outside of Bangladesh in 2002, when it opened operations in Afghanistan. Since then, BRAC has expanded globally to Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti and the Philippines. With over 60,000 employees and training an additional 60,000 self-employed community health volunteers, agriculture and livestock extension agents and part-time teachers, BRAC is the largest development organisation in the world in terms of staff size. Through overseas programmes, BRAC currently operating 872 community based schools in Afghanistan, 183 in Sudan and 41 in Uganda. Through overseas programmes, BRAC now operates 872 community based schools in Afghanistan, 183 in Sudan and 41 in Uganda.
BRAC started operations in Pakistan in April 2007and obtained its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as a Company Limited, in February 2008. BRAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Pakistan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs to work in the fields of microfinance, health and education. Currently, BRAC covers all four (4) provinces of Pakistan (Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and 23 districts, operating 96 branch offices and 19 area offices.
Website: www.brac.net
