Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, informed the National Assembly on Thursday that a massive training program for teachers, with the assistance of international institutions and local universities, will be started soon in the federal capital. Responding to a calling attention notice regarding inadequate facilities in schools under the Federal Directorate of Education in Islamabad and the shortage of teachers, he said that the process to appoint new teachers in the federal capital will be completed soon.
Addressing the issue of out-of-school children, he said that the government is taking all possible steps to enroll children in schools. He acknowledged that poverty is a significant reason behind children not attending school. He highlighted that providing breakfast incentives in federal capital schools has increased student attendance from 40 percent to 80 percent. If this incentive proves successful in the federal capital, it will be expanded to the rest of the country. Regarding the Daanish schools in the federal capital, he said that work on the project has already begun.
Daanish schools, initially launched by then-Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif in 2010, provide free quality education and boarding facilities for underprivileged children in Punjab.
He added that the initial allocation of 10 acres for the Daanish schools project has been increased to 30 acres.
