Education for all: School enrollment campaign to begin April 8

Hubs will be set up in different districts to register children.

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to launch a province-wide school enrolment campaign which will begin on April 8 and continue for a month.

During the campaign, enrolment hubs will be set up in Peshawar and other districts where registration desks, enrolment awareness stalls and a fun fair for children will be arranged, said K-P Elementary and Secondary Education Additional Secretary Qaisar Alam at a meeting held at a local hotel on Tuesday. “At the hubs, children will register for a school close to their locality and a signed chit would be given to them to be submitted at the respective schools.”

Alam added the campaign will start from Peshawar where an enrolment hub would be set up for three days, whereas the hubs in other districts would be arranged for a day. Moreover, a bus will be sent to different parts of the province to get children registered for schools.

Organisations supporting the campaign include Unicef, Save the Children and Alif Ailaan. Their representatives present at the meeting appreciated the government’s initiative and ensured the education department of fully supporting the enrolment drive in the province.

On the occasion, Elementary and Secondary Education Director Rafiq Khattak suggested to donor organisations that the focus of the drive should be on districts where the dropout rate in schools is very high. He shared that the number of children enrolled is very low in schools of Hangu, Shangla, Kohistan and Torghar. He added schools in these districts also lack basic facilities.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.