“As many as 18,000 out-of-schools children in Multan district have been enrolled at schools in the last 18 days. Another 8,000 children have been enrolled in the Bahawalnagar district in the last three weeks,” District Coordination Officer Gulzar Shah said on Tuesday.
Lauding the efforts of the civil society, the district administration and Education Department, the DCO said that the enrolment had picked up over the last few weeks. He said over 80 per cent of these children were from the villages and slums.
The DCO said that education officials had monitored 24 schools in the district on the last two days. They specifically monitored the enrolment programme. He said the campaign will continue till September 30.
Education EDO Samsher Khan told The Express Tribune that the Punjab government had directed the officials to keep focused on children of nomadic families and those living in extremely poor vicinities.
He said the Education Department had been working effectively in Bahawalnagar district. This district includes Minchanabad, Haroonabad, Bahawalanagar, Chistian and Fort Abbas sub districts. He said the campaign had received a positive response from homeless people, especially in Haroonabad. Deputy District Officer (Education) Abdul Ghani said that 60 per cent of the new enrolments from Haroonabad were girls.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2013.