ISLAMABAD: Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain received a high level delegation led by the CEO of Education Above All- Qatar Fahad Hamad Hassan Al- Sulaiti here on Wednesday.
Secretary Education Waseem Ajmal Chaudhry and other senior officers of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training including CEO of Taleemabad Haroon Yasin and representatives from Qatar Embassy Islamabad also attended the meeting.
Rana Tanveer Hussain welcomed Fahad Hamad Hassan Al- Sulaiti and said that Education Above All – Qatar is playing a critical role in uplifting the status of public education in Pakistan. The Minister highlighted his desire to reduce the number of Out of School Children in the federal area in order to make it a model for the rest of the country to follow, says a press release.
He said above political motivation, he wishes to positively contribute towards the future of the youth of Pakistan. Rana Tanveer Hussain said there are 53,000 out of school children in the federal capital area and it is a top priority to address this issue.
He said to address this challenge human resource needs to be developed in addition with the financial support. He said it is imperative that we do something for our country and expressed his desire to make the capital an ideal example for the entire country.
The delegation was briefed by senior officials of the ministry who presented the plan of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to bring the Out of School Children (OOSC) to zero. The Minister was told that the current plans will cost approximately $9 million to bring the OOSC number to zero.
He was apprised that a special ‘Digital and Innovation Wing’ has been set up to formulate and implement strategies to address the challenge of OOSC. The specialized wing will target registering all OOSC in Pakistan into learning process through applying digital and innovative projects accessible by all children in Pakistan.
The Wing will rollout projects along with private sector to comply with the vision of National Digital and Innovation in Education Strategy (NIDIES). It will develop innovative and alternate education financing solutions to support in school and out of school children for sustainability of initiatives while providing technical assistance to all MoFEPT departments. Similarly, the initiative of School on Wheels will be expanded to increase its reach.
At least 15 more buses will be deployed to increase its scope. Rana Tanveer Hussain said that above political mileage, it is our duty to work towards the betterment of the country. He said that his ambition is to ensure that the students of the Federal Area have the required opportunities to build a successful and prosperous future for themselves and eventually contribute towards the growth of Pakistan.