By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday asked the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) to work for promotion of universal primary education in the country.
The President expressed these views while talking to Chairman NCHD, Colonel (Retd) Dr Amirullah Marwat, who presented him the annual report of the commission here at Aiwan-e-Sadr. President Alvi said NCHD needed to focus on out-of-schoolchildren by providing them formal and non-formal education. The NCHD chairman briefed the President about the future plans and role of the commission in promotion of human development and primary education.
He said that NCHD had introduced primary education in 100 madaris (seminaries) in Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), besides training to189,000 literacy teachers and supervisors in literacy and social mobilization. He apprised the President that NCHD had established 10,937 feeder schools with 15,000 teachers in remote and far-flung areas of the country. The NCHD chairman presented the annual report of the commission to the President who is the Patron-in-Chief of NCHD.
The President appreciated the efforts and role of NCHD in poverty alleviation and capacity building of teachers and supervisors.
Earlier, President Dr. Arif Alvi on Monday stressed that media can play an important role in protecting the rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and eliminating the negative attitudes in the country and society. He said that the government, in order to make special persons active members of the society, was taking all possible measures including the provision of free of cost education to them from primary school to university level. The President expressed these views in an interactive session with senior journalists regarding issues of PWDs here at the Aiwan-e-Sadr.
He said the government had distributed health cards among over 26,000 persons with disabilities to facilitate them in access to medical facilities. The President mentioned that under Ehsaas programme, around two million disabled people would be provided financial assistance. He said that the government, under the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China for the promotion and production of assistive technology for PWDs in Pakistan.
The President lauded the role of media in creating awareness about breast cancer in the country which helped in saving of precious human lives due to the diagnosis of the disease at early stage. He further said that media was also playing effective role in creating awareness about women empowerment through their financial inclusion. Special day was also observed to create awareness about PWDs, he added. The President said that as there was lack of data about special persons, the survey being conducted under the Ehsaas Program will be completed by June 2021.
He said though the number of special persons showed in census was 2%, but according to a survey the real number of PWDs in the country was 15%, and they lack appropriate facilities. He said with the minimum reported numbers, the special persons have to face difficulties in registration with National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
