ICT Hosts 52,796 Out-of-School Children: Report

News Desk

Islamabad: There are approximately 52,796 out-of-school children (OOSC) in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

Additional Secretary Salman Mufti briefed the Education and Professional Training Federal Minister Rana Tanveer Hussain that so far, 6549 out-of-school children have been identified, out of which 3396 have been enrolled in various public and private schools through the collective efforts of all stakeholders.

Rana Tanveer Hussain visited the Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) Shah Allah Dita on Tuesday to review the progress on enrolment at OOSC.

During his visit, Salman Mufti further informed the Minister that the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and Directorate General of Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) have deputed their teams in the field for this campaign—about 100 officials of NCHD and 40 of BECS.

The additional Secretary told the minister that the ministry has devised a plan to address this issue on his instructions.

Mufti said that in the first week of May 2023, the education ministry rolled out an implementation plan for the Zero out-of-school children in ICT campaign.

Rana Tanveer was told that the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), NCHD, BECS, NGOs, and various NGOs are partners of the Ministry in this campaign. The minister was told that the campaign has started in five union councils: Shareefabad, Sohan, Shah Allah Ditta, Golra Shareef, and Burma Town.

Field Control Centres have been established by the education ministry in collaboration with numerous NGOs to monitor the progress at Burma Town (NCHD and Jinnah Junior Trust); Sohan (BECS); Shareefabad (Alight Pakistan, FDE); Golra Shareef (FDE & NEF); and Shah Allah Ditta (Sunbeams; FDE School; & NCHD).

All partners are committed and have plans to reach zero OOSC in Islamabad by June 30, 2023. Minister Tanveer said that his vision is to make Islamabad a model for the rest of the country to follow.

Hussain encouraged all the stakeholders to combine their efforts and ensure that Islamabad has zero OOSC as soon as possible. He added that Islamabad has to lead by example so that the right direction can be given to the rest of the country.