Karachi: The 77th government-run school built by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the underprivileged areas of Sindh has been inaugurated in the suburbs of Karachi.
USAID has been partnering with the Sindh government’s Education Department to build 106 schools in 10 districts of Sindh at a total cost of $159 million. These schools are being constructed to enroll around 80,000 children of the backward areas under the Sindh Basic Education Porgramme (SBEP).
The latest school has been built in Sindhi Jamaat Cooperative Housing Society in the Bin Qasim Town of District Malir in Karachi.
Sindh Education and Culture Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, along with American Consul General in Karachi, Mark Stroh jointly opened the new school.
The school building has 12 classrooms for 188 students, a library, a computer laboratory, a science lab, a multi-purpose hall, a health room, and the play area.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Sindh Education Minister said the schools being built under the SBEP proved that the provincial government was fully committed to provide state-of-the-art educational facilities to the children of the underprivileged communities.
He said that in addition to the construction of modern school buildings, the concerned community representatives, the parents, and the teachers should take responsibility of the academic activities there in the best interest of the students.
He said the provincial Education Department had collaborated with USAID to hand over the administration of 88 government-run schools in the province to educational management organisations (EMOs) belonging to the private sector to upgrade the standard of education. He said that 90 more schools in the province were also being handed to the EMOs. The total enrolment of students in these schools is around 87,000.
He said the SBEP was being executed to upgrade the administrative and academic skills of the teachers and other education officials in the province.
Also speaking on the occasion, the American Consul General reiterated commitment of the US government to support the people of Pakistan and Sindh in the education and health sectors.
