385,000 children in Pakistan to be helped by learning programme

Launch at Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference

A three-year programme has been launched to help 385,000 children in Pakistan – particularly girls and vulnerable groups.

The $4.6million scheme will promote education transitions from pre-primary to primary school and provide accelerated learning for thousands of out-of-school boys and girls.

It will also train teachers in areas hard to reach and generate a culture of reading to improve learning and citizenship. The holistic quality learning programme will benefit children across the Sindh and Punjab regions and two regions in Baluchistan.

The scheme was launched by Dubai Cares, the UAE-based philanthropic organisation working towards tackling poverty through education in developing countries.

Dubai Cares Chief Executive Office Tariq Al Gurg said: “Every child should have the opportunity to achieve personal, professional and social success.

“At Dubai Cares, we believe that the journey begins with strong primary education. This new program in Pakistan focuses on the critical aspect of helping pre-primary age children, especially girls and those from vulnerable groups, build up their foundational learning skills so that they are not at a disadvantage once they reach the primary school level.

“This in turn will help them successfully transition to higher educational levels, giving them a platform to hone their talents and grow to become national assets.”

Dubai Cares will be working with Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), which promotes education in Pakistan with the aim of facilitating human and social transformation, for the roll-out of the program.

Pakistan has made steady progress in ensuring universal education for its young people. But it still faces severe challenges in meeting the targets for universal primary education set under the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All programme by the United Nations.

The 2013 Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO) ranks Pakistan second in terms of the number of out-of-school children. The country is also dealing with low female literacy levels, compounded by low girls’ enrollment ratios at the primary level (overall 77% and 68% in rural areas).

You can learn more about the state of education in Paskistan in our Explore channel.