MULTAN, Feb 22 (APP):First Lady Begum Samina Arif Alvi on Wednesday formally opened an education centre to impart free education to poor destitute children of the husk cottage settlements’ dwellers in Multan saying that bringing children back to school was imperative for Pakistan’s socio-economic development.
“I am glad to have opened the second education centre set up by Taaray Zameen Per (TZP) trust and congratulate not only the TZP team that made it happen but most importantly the children and their poor families for having free access to education,” the first lady said while addressing the opening ceremony.
She said that the trust was not only making free arrangements for education of 250 children but also provided shelter to 29 families. She also commended the trust for its noteworthy efforts in providing ration to poor families besides free meals to hospitals adding it should serve as an inspiration for all of us to continue efforts to support those who need our help the most.
“When we talk about underprivileged children, we not only need to meet their basic life necessities like food, clothing but also make their access to education easy.”
Begum Samina Arif Alvi said education was the right of every individual but expressed concerns that over 20 million children were out of schools owing to a variety of factors.
“We need to bring children back to school and make suitable arrangements for their education if we want to see Pakistan progressing.”
“Education for underprivileged children was not just a moral duty but a prerequisite for development of the country.”
Begum Samina Arif Alvi made an impassioned appeal to philanthropists, and social welfare organizations to contribute generously to bring underprivileged children back to school and stressed that only a united effort from all sectors of society can help Pakistan transform human capital into a growth-oriented treasure.
She said that such efforts would not only help poor come out of poverty but also help children learn critical thinking, be creative and acquire problem solving skills.
She said, it was necessary for all of us to think hard what tools our education system was delivering to children and whether these tools were relevant to bring success in this fast changing world.
She said that children must also have access to suitable nutrition for their better growth and prevention of malnutrition and stunting. Poor nutritional diet impacts physical and mental health of the children negatively, she said.
“When we give food to children, we are actually giving them fuel and energy to learn and move forward.”
First Lady also emphasized on the efforts to address mental health issues of the people adding that 24 per cent people were facing mental stress problem but only 400-500 psychology experts or psychiatrists were available in the country. She said that collective efforts from all can bring about positive change in society.
CEO TZP Fadia Kashif said that the centre would provide education to children along with facilities including free uniform, food, transportation and books. Wife of senator Aon Abbas Bappi, HOD TZP educational centre Ms. Sakeena Hilal, and others were present.
