NCHD plans to educate prisoners in jails: Razina Alam

NCHD plans to educate prisoners in jails: Razina Alam

ISLAMABAD, July 12 (APP): National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) has planned to educate prisoners in jails under a massive programme alongwith the skill development to make the prisoners useful citizens after their release from jails.

It was decided in the senior management meeting of NCHD presided by chairperson Senator Razina Alam Khan, said a press release issued on Tuesday.

The chairperson said that making convicts’ useful citizen and bringing them into the mainstream as respectable entities is the prime duty of the society and NCHD will not be failing in its duties.

She said that NCHD has already launched many successful programmes of education and contributed to literate 3.84 million adults in its 164,190 adult literacy centers established since inception.

Whereas, 5,949 feeder schools of Universal Primary Education are functional enrolling 392,869 children, in remote, rural and underprivileged areas of the country mainly to address the core issues of access to education and to meet Sustainable Development goal, she added.

Razina Alam said that students of feeder schools are on the strength of nearby government schools and same curriculum of the government school is adopted.

She expressed her concern over the fact that 57 million people in the country are illiterate while 24 million children never go to school.

The chairperson further deplored that out of 26 million children who are enrolled, only 33 percent reach the matriculation level.

While discussing the grim educational statistic in Pakistan, she said the primary net enrollment is 72 percent out of which 33 percent are dropouts.

Besides its regular programmes NCHD managed to have different educational/literacy and skill related projects through public-private schemes in collaboration with donors and provincial governments, she added.

Razina Alam said these projects dealt with issues such as elimination of poverty, access to education, establishment of formal and non formal basic education institutions, setting up of IT Centers, data collection activities and setting up of Skill Development Centers.

Briefly highlighting about these model projects and initiatives she said, NCHD established 16 Malala Feeder schools in 2013 for the earthquake hit areas in collaboration with I-Care.

She said that NCHD initiated an innovative strategy “Own a School Initiative” and had been able to mobilize funds for 25 Feeder Schools from different philanthropists and 1,254 children were enrolled in them.

Razina Alam said that 400 skill based literacy centers were established under BBSYDP project in sindh. 10, 000 females were provided sewing and stitching skill along with literacy skill.

She said that NCHD launched mainstreaming of Madaris project to provide formal education in Madrasas and had established 100 Feeder Schools in Madaris of AJK, FATA, GB and Islamabad.

The chairperson said that School Nutrition Programme and “Every Child in School Initiative” covering 10 districts of KPK is functional in collaboration with UNICEF.

In order to strengthen policy and planning for retention through intensive enrollment campaign and dropout prevention mechanism, she said that NCHD had carried out a number of activities to mobilize the community in seven districts of KPK and two agencies of FATA with financial assistance of UNICEF.

Every Child in School Initiative (ECISI) is a UNICEF supported initiative which is being implemented by School Education Department and NCHD-Punjab in 10 districts enrolling 51,559 out of school children.

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