Zulfi determined to revamp OPF schools system

Special Assistant to PM on Overseas Pakistanis says will constitute a task force to improve quality of education

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari on Saturday expressed his resolve to bring structural changes in the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) schools system to provide maximum education facilities to the children of Pakistani diaspora working abroad.

"There is a dire need to set up these schools in areas like Gujranwala and Lahore where the families of these expatriates are residing in large number," he said during the annual day ceremony of the Islamabad Convent School (ICS).

He also revealed that he would constitute a task force comprising heads of leading private schools next week to seek their suggestions about making the OPF schools more vibrant institutions, besides enrolling maximum children of overseas Pakistanis.

The 24 schools of the OPF are imparting education to 3,697 children of expatriates, making some 20 per cent of total 19,051 students enrolled in all its schools and colleges in the current academic year.

Addressing the ceremony, Bukhari congratulated the ICS staff, students and parents and termed good schooling a privilege for a student which was not otherwise available to many people.

He advised the students against abusing this privilege and regretted that he could not manage to get higher education, which was a big mistake. Bukhari said education and knowledge were not only meant for getting a degree rather it could help foster socio-religious cohesion and tolerance. He added that less education eventually resulted in moral decay of the society and these factors were major reasons behind corruption, terrorism and other social evils.

"Provision of education to every young Pakistani, including minorities and other marginalised segments of the society, certainly helps us to bring peace and prosperity in the country," he remarked.

ICS Principal Sister Parveen Rehmat said there were 20 branches of the institution functioning across the country and underlined the need for public-private partnership to revolutionise the education system in Pakistan.

She said at present they were not receiving foreign donation for certain reasons, prompting them to devise a future policy to run the affairs of these schools.