DG BISP Sarah Saeed visits Punjab Education Foundation

Lahore : Director General Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Sarah Saeed visited the head office of the Punjab Education Foundation and held detailed meeting with Managing Director Tariq Mahmood to join hands for children’s wellbeing in the Punjab. On the occasion, different prospects of education-promotion in the impecunious strata, in partnership with the private sector, were discussed in detail.

MD PEF Tariq Mahmood told that improving quality of education is especially taken care of so that the students could get best education in most conducive atmosphere. MD PEF told that PEF is committed to provide strenuous efforts in extending gratis educational facilities to all needy children across the province and said that the foundation is committed to further extend such facilities so that no child is left behind. PEF has targeted to educate 2.8 million mostly out of school kids by 2018. This would help to achieve the targets of ‘Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab,’ he maintained.

DG BISP informed that through Waseela-e-Taleem (WET) initiative, BISP is urging its beneficiary families to send their children to school so that they can become literate and become economically self-sufficient in the future and around 3.3 million children (5-12 years) of age are present in the 1.47 million beneficiary families, out of which around 2.65 children are out of school and only 0.66 million are currently attending the schools.

She added that BISP is targeting to reach these out of school children within 2 years by introducing the stipend amount to encourage the beneficiary families for sending their children in school instead of involving in child labour. She told that BISP is aiming to reduce the child labour and to increase the human development by extending WET programme in 7 new districts of Punjab. BISP stipend amount would not only increase the enrolment numbers in primary school but would also reduce the drop out ratio of currently attending school children, she added.

The meeting expressed the satisfaction that PEF is doing its best in public service in the education sector. On the occasion, she termed PEF sponsored educational programs as highly impressive and useful which are giving education to the needy communities. PEF DMD (O) Imran Yaqub, Director EVS Samina Nawaz and DD Coordinator Fatima Jamal us Sama also attended the meeting.