Pakistan plans to honour Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl education campaigner shot by the Taliban, by opening special schools in her name for poor children, officials said on Monday.
The “Malala Schools” are planned for 16 areas around Pakistan affected by conflict or natural disasters, Nafisa Shah, chairwoman of the National Commission for Human Development, told AFP.
The aim is to give children in these areas, who often have little in the way of educational opportunities, a chance to go to school, Shah said, but added that money for the scheme had not yet been found.
“We have identified the places and (will) soon launch a fundraising scheme to generate finances for these schools,” Shah said. Each school will have two classrooms, a verandah, a toilet and space to extend the building if needed. It will cost Rs800,000 and
provide basic education to both girls and boys.
The government has announced a plan to pay poor families to send their children to school and UN education envoy Gordon Brown held talks in Islamabad to begin a plan to bring more than five million out-of-school youngsters into the classroom.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 13th, 2012.
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