Promoting education: USAID and Sindh to teach 700,00 flood-affected children
USAID mission director Dr Andrew Sisson sealed the deal with the provincial additional chief secretary, Malik Asrar Husain, on Wednesday.
USAID will help the government build 200 new schools where nearly 700,000 children from eight of the flood-affected districts, including Khairpur, Dadu, Shahdadkot, Jacobabad and Larkana, will be taught. While talking to Husain at Chief Minister House, Sisson said that by supporting education, the United States wanted to strengthen the foundation of Pakistan and let it have the modern technologies and skills to conquer the global market.
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said that the World Bank and European Union, who had supported the provincial government and financed the Sindh Education Reform Programme, had offered to give $300 million and 30 million Euros, respectively for their three-year reforms.
He added that the Americans had supported and helped Pakistan through the floods in Khairpur, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Sukkur, Dadu, Larkana and Kambar-Shahdadkot. He hoped that the education department would be able to construct the schools and provide good education in the districts with help from USAID.
Senior education minister Pir Muzharul Haq said that his department had launched many programmes, but most schools in the area were damaged because of the rains. The additional chief secretary said that USAID had committed to give the provincial government $155 million over five years, out of which $81 million would be used to implement the programme and $74 million would be spent directly by USAID. Nearly 120 schools with 1,800 classrooms would be constructed as part of the project.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2011.
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Today TCF, which started in 1995, has 730 purpose-built school units nationwide with an impressive enrollment of 102,000 students. The organisation emphasises on career guidance, a modern balanced curriculum and extra-curricular activities to empower its students to compete in all walks of life.
I would recommend based on the above observations of Mr. Munter, that People of Sindh (who are to benefit) and People of US (who are donating), be done true justice, and these funds be only used to set up 200 TCF schools in flood hit areas, which is most cost effective, transparent school non-profit system. I would also recommend the same for WB, fund for Education in Sindh and Pakistan to only donate their entire amount of $ 300 million, to set up 2000 quality TCF schools
Mr Munter should direct the funds to set up 200 TCF schools in Sindh, as TCF is a well reputed non-profit http://www.thecitizensfoundation.org/ where Mr. Munter has visited and praised it in many ways, and this step of USAID, to help TCF set up 200 schools will genuinely help education in Sindh.
I quote here Mr. Munter, “Today, T.C.F. runs 660 excellent schools for the poorest citizens. I visited several of these schools on this trip and, wow! “T.C.F. spends 40 percent less per pupil than state schools do, but manages to provide incomparably better education. Here in the most-populous province of Punjab, for example, nearly 100 percent of Citizens Foundation pupils pass government exams, while over the last four years state schools have averaged a 44 percent pass rate.”
November 19, 2010 Nation
Better than F-16.