LAHORE: International Literacy Day was observed on Wednesday in Punjab with the provincial government’s firm resolve to improve the literacy rate by utilizing all available resources.
The main event was organized by the Department of Literacy & Non Formal Basic Education (L&NFBE) while the Provincial Minister Raja Rashid Hafeez was the chief guest.
The Minister addressing the ceremony, highlighted the importance of literacy, the interventions and achievements of the government in improving the literacy rate.
The Minister told the participants that 13, 519 Non-Formal Schools were run by the L&NFBE department with an enrolment of 434, 479 children and adolescents. The highest number of enrolment was registered in 2019 under the present government, he added.
The department had imparted adult literacy since its inception to 2, 778, 157 adult Illiterates. Under the present government, the period of adult literacy classes was enhanced to 6 months and the curriculum was upgraded and diversified in order to make the course more robust and to attract greater number of learners.
Raja Rashid said that the department with the support of JICA recently introduced a 32 month primary level course in order to attract enrolment and retention of children and adolescents who were over aged for the grade that they needed to be enrolled in. The department with the assistance of UNICEF had started early childhood education model of teaching and learning in selected schools, he maintained.
He further said that the department started a Friends of Literacy Programme through which the support of individuals and organizations was enlisted in order to achieve the literacy targets. He also mentioned another flagship project of the present government was the ILM-O-HUNAR Project. The Minister said that department had constructed rooms, with the aid of the international NGO ALIGHT for those areas where no facility was available to establish schools within any building. The education is being provided to children in workforce, slum dwellers, internally displaced persons, madrassah children, minorities, jail inmates, Dar-ul-Aman residents and transgenders.
Another great achievement of the government had been that the department was now going to have a permanent Directorate General for Literacy & NFBE. He vowed to ensure provision of education to every one following the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar.
Later, an online panel discussion was conducted regarding “Quality Education for non-formal schools and adult literacy centres. The panellists included eminent experts from the public, non-governmental and private sector.
Baela Raza Jamil, CEO, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi was the moderator for the discussion and the panel consisted of Mian Imran Masood, President, Pakistan Education Council, Mian Riaz ur Rehman, President, Serving Schools Foundation, Nayab Ali, Transgender Rights Expert, Shahbaz Hussain from Akhuwat Foundation, Director Technical (NAVTTC), Dr. Tariq Habib Cheema, Country Representative Alight Pakistan, Huma Mirza, Representative Akhuwat Foundation, Chiho Ohashi, Chief Advisor, AQAL Project JICA Pakistan, Bashir Ahmad Zahid Goraya Additional Secretary Literacy & NFBE Department, Schools Education Department, Planning and Development Department and Literacy & Non-Formal Basic Education Department.
All participants provided valuable input based on their experience, there was a rich discussion and the need for collaboration to achieve the target of universal education was stressed. This was followed by a question & answer session.
The event was successfully conducted with strict reinforcement of COVID-19 SOPs and underscoring the need to celebrate an important day like the International Literacy Day.