Special students to get free higher education

President says govt committed to ensuring participation of special persons at all levels

PESHAWAR:

President Dr Arif Alvi here Monday said that Higher Education Commission was preparing a policy under which fees of special students attending post-graduation classes would be waived off, adding over Rs50,000 scholarship was already placed for assistance of such students besides making banks accessible for them.

He emphasized the need for adopting all possible measures to extend benefits of the modern-day technology to support persons with disabilities and those affected by the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases and aging factors.

Addressing an interactive session with persons having disabilities held in coordination with World Health Organization (WHO) here at Governor House, the president said the assistive technology was drawing commitment at global, regional and member state level, which was a sign that the world was changing for the better and there was a hope for those in need of assistive products.

The president said the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Rights of Persons with Disability Act 2020, which was envisaged as an instrument for inclusive development, was a benchmark to ensure an easy access for persons with disabilities on equal basis with others.

Appreciating the consistent support being provided by the WHO for health and well-being of people of Pakistan, he said that government was fully committed to ensuring that people with disabilities in all their diversity were meaningfully participating at all levels of society.

Dr Arif Alvi said the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a powerful framework in mainstreaming disability inclusion across its dimensions. The president said social protection programmes have a great potential to play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and promoting effective access to healthcare, rehabilitation and other services, thus nurturing social inclusion and participation.

The president said the government was focusing on technical, vocational and skill-based education to financially empower persons with disabilities and take full advantage of their potential.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has already announced Rs2000 per month stipend for a person with disability. He said “in our country there was about two million persons with different kinds of disabilities out of which about 3,30,000 were registered with NADRA”. He said data of unregistered persons with disabilities was being prepared under Ehsas Survey to provide loans on easy terms to them.

He said Higher Education Commission was preparing a policy under which fees of such students pursuing post-graduation would be waived off, adding over Rs50,000 scholarship was already placed for assistance of such students besides making banks accessible for them.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2021.