Enrolment drive: Nearly 150,000 students find a place in school

Peshawar district leads the race with more than 20,000 enrolments since the drive began.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has enroled 142,140 children in schools across the province since the enrolment drive was launched on September 10, according to the education department.

“The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government firmly believes the future of the province will be transformed for the better if every child receives an education,” said Minister of Education Atif Khan. “The government realises political will alone is insufficient, which is why our enrolment drive is backed by a solid execution plan and stringent monitoring of targets.”



Alif Ailaan, a campaign for education reform, is supporting the K-P government’s initiative to increase enrolment through its Alif Ailaan Taleemi Karavan. The caravan started the third leg of its journey in Charsadda, where a discussion on the importance of education was held with local communities followed by the enrolment of 16 children.

The caravan then moved on to Mardan where it was received by Atif along with more than 350 members of civil society, teachers’ unions, parents and community members. An enrolment ceremony was held following the event where the education minister himself enroled 10 children.

“The provincial government is committed to promoting education and all parties must set aside their political differences to work together,” he said.



Since the enrolment drive commenced, 6,486 children have been enroled in Charsadda, 14,341 in Mardan and 21,821 in the Peshawar district, which currently leads the enrolment headcount. Kohistan is at the bottom of the list with only 531 school enrolments. The data from other districts has not been released by the government as yet.

“Every parent aspires for their child to achieve their full potential, but not everyone understands that education is vital to achieving this goal,” said Alif Ailaan Campaign Director Mosharraf Zaidi. “The challenge before the K-P government is great. On the one hand they must ensure parents enroll their children and on the other hand, they must also make sure that the dropout rate is curbed, otherwise the gains made will be lost.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2013.