Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Engr.
Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman visited “Sultana Foundation Justice Yusaf Saraf
Centre for Research, Rehabilitation and Mainstreaming of out of school
children” hereon Monday.
During the
visit, the Federal Minister was briefed about the activities of Sultana
Foundation in the field of education.
The Federal
Minister while speaking on the occasion lauded the Sultana Foundation for its
work in the field of education with its special focus on out of schools children.
Federal
Minister Baligh Ur Rehman said that children and youth are the assets of our
country and we will have to make them useful knowledge seekers and active
contributors for well being of society.
He said that the present government took number of steps for the
promotion of education in the country as number of out of school children
decreased during the last three years.
The Federal
Minister noted that Islamabad Capital Territory stands number one regarding
reduction in number of out of school children as there is 55 pc decrease in out
of school children in ICT, 23 pc in Punjab, 14 pc in AJK, 9 pc in KP while
improvement regarding reduction in out of school children in Balochistan and
Sindh was seen minimal during last three years.
Talking about
technical and vocational education, Baligh Ur Rehman said that technical and
vocational education is as mush important as conventional education.
The students
who leave schools after primary often find their way into vocational training
centres and turn out to be expert workmen after getting training from technical
and vocational training centres, he said.
He said under
the PM Youth Skills Development Program, 100,000 youths are being imparted
technical and vocational education this year.
He said that
the government has also revised Pakistan’s first Vocational Training Policy.
The Federal
Minister hoped that the Apprenticeship Act would soon be passed by the Senate
and this would pave way for opening of great number of employment opportunities
for our youth.
He said that
the teaching of the Holy Quran has also been made compulsory in all educational
institutions in ICT. Under the law, students would read the Holy Quran from
Class one to five and those in grades 6 to 12 would be taught simple translation
of the Holy Quran.
Earlier,
speaking on the occasion, Chairman Sultana Foundation Dr. Naeem Ghani said that
Sultana Foundation is imparting education to children and focusing on deprived
children of society. Our programs are based on both societal and human
development, he said.
