RAWALPINDI: Punjab government as per the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar was utilizing all available resources to achieve 100 percent literacy target and as many as 13, 519 non-formal schools were catering to the needs of 434, 479 out-of-school children at their doorsteps through non-formal primary education system in Punjab.
Punjab Minister for Literacy, Raja Rashid Hafeez while addressing participants of a workshop held here in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the training of teachers of Non-Formal Basic Education system said that Punjab Literacy Department was making all-out efforts and was striving hard to increase literacy rate considerably.
The department had ensured the enrolment of maximum out-of-school children and provision of education facilities at their doorsteps.
An education program based on smart syllabuses had also been introduced. 1000 non-formal schools were providing basic educational facilities through Friends of Literacy program.
He said ‘Friends of Literacy’ program launched this year, was providing financial support to the department in this critical situation when the government has limited financial resources.
The initiative had attracted the friends of literacy to adopt a Non-Formal School on easy term and condition.
The Literacy Department has set up 310 non-formal primary education centres for kiln workers. In addition, a life skills introductory program based on a combination of agriculture and livestock has also been launched which was benefiting a large number of people.
The Literacy Department was currently imparting literacy and technical skills through eight centres of knowledge and skills project. In collaboration, six shed schools have also been constructed in remote areas of DG Khan and 59 adult education centres have been set up for the minority community.
The Minister said, 28 adult education centres for poor and helpless women have been set up in Darul Aman, 14 adult education centres for nomadic tribes and six adult education centres for the eunuch community.
The Punjab government has given the first literacy policy in the history of Punjab which is a testament to the sincerity of the government, he added.
Now, the situation has started changing drastically as the department has introduced some important initiatives to increase the literacy rate.
The government’s solid steps would also help eliminate the sense of deprivation among the students of non-formal educational institutions and they would be able to get purposeful education.
In order to purposefully increase the literacy rate, the Punjab government has activated literacy centres in jails across the province and where there was need, new facilities have also been provided, he informed.
In these adult education centres, illiterate prisoners were being taught not only to read and write but also being encouraged and motivated to repent of their crimes.
As a result of the efforts being made by the Literacy Department, the prisons could now be transformed into centres of change.
The sector has been made active by reviving old schools and establishing new ones in jails, shelter homes and other places, while some areas have also been selected which were neglected and could not receive any attention in the past.
At present, a network of non-formal educational institutions was being set up in the most remote and backward areas of the province, he added.
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