Moalims

ISLAMABAD: The National Education Foundation (NEF) has initiated a pilot project of vocational schools in various parts of the country to lure back dropout children for skill development and formal education.

Besides the federal capital, the project has been launched in areas like Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to NEF Managing Director Capt (r) Muhammad Aftab, the project is initiated on the directives of Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Muhammad Balighur Rehman under public-private partnership.

He said that under the project, the children would be provided with free vocational and technical education along with the formal education from class 6 to 10.

He said that the project is devised on the model of some developed countries including Germany to impart technical and vocational training to the children.

The NEF chief said that it is the first project in the country on the model of public-private partnership where both technical and formal education would be imparted and will also ensure the retention of students up to higher secondary school level. It would also help increase school enrolment and literacy besides poverty alleviation and empowerment of women, he added.

He further said that a new special vocational curriculum of demand driven trades is also developed in collaboration with National Training Bureau (NTB). Initially, the project was started in Al Farabi Islamic School and Degree College Nilore Islamabad, he added.

He said the NEF would appreciate if any private school desired to replicate the same model.

News Reference