Pakistan: Japanese agency-assisted programme launched in Sindh to enrol out-of-school girls

Karachi: The Sindh government has joined hands with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to establish special centres to spread literacy among out-of-school girls in the province.

The JICA-assisted Advanced Quality Alternative Learning (AQAL) project was launched on Wednesday at a programme organised by the Directorate of Literacy & Non-Formal Education of the Sindh government to mark the International Literacy Day 2021 being commemorated the world over on September 8. The main focus of the proceedings of the programme was issues related to adult literacy drives and girls’ education in the province as the panel discussions were held to highlight the shortcomings in this regard.

The AQAL project is aimed at establishing 1,440 special literacy centres in eight selected districts of Sindh to enrol around 35,000 girl students. The project will be executed from 2021 to 2025.

Last year, the then Sindh Education minister Saeed Ghani conceded before the Sindh Assembly that around 3.5 million children were out-of-school in Sindh.

According to an estimate, 52 per cent of the children belonging to the poorest communities in Sindh, of whom 58 per cent are girls, are out-of-school.

Also, on the occasion, a European Union-funded programme was launched to establish centres of non-formal education in the province. These centres will help students who drop out from schools after Class five to complete their education till Class 8th in just 18 months under a mechanism of non-formal education. This programme will also particularly focus on girls’ education.

Speaking on the occasion, the incumbent Sindh Education and Culture Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, said that he was fully aware of the challenges in the education sector and also about the abilities of the education officials of the province to overcome them.

He said that he was aware of children’s keenness to get education.

He said the province had qualified human resources and financial assistance in sufficient number to run the education sector but the issue of out-of-school children had been persisting due to lack of commitment and dedication on the part of the relevant officials.

He negated a claim that the number of out-of-school children in Sindh was six million, while saying that such a figure was not verifiable.