GILGIT:Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Khalid Khurshid has visited the British Council’s Headquarters in London.
During the visit, he held a meeting with the senior officials of the British Council, said a press release issued here on Thursday.
Putting emphasis on the British Council’s role in uplifting the education sector of GB, the chief minister discussed the need to initiate the British Council’s Connecting Class Room Program in the region. He also requested British Council to extend their support for the capacity building of government teachers and in delivering various vocational training programs for the youth of GB.
Addressing the meeting, Khalid Khurshid said, “It is the government’s primary responsibility to provide equal opportunities to all students, particularly those belonging to the remote areas of the region. In this regard, we have agreed to get a comprehensive Education Sector Plan developed with the support of Cambridge International aiming at systematic development of the sector in Gilgit-Baltistan.”
Acknowledging the contributions of British Council in the past, he invited the organisation to work with Chief Minister’s Reforms Unit and Education Department in the region again.
Raising the issue of impacts of climate change on the region, the CM highlighted that GB was the largest glaciated area outside the polar region “heavily affected by climate change impacts”. The international community and partners need to support GB in its endeavors to mitigate these climate change effects, he urged.
British Council appreciated the chief minister’s vision to reform the education sector and agreed to visit GB and explore the key areas for collaboration with the government.