President for utilising mosques, seminaries to educate 28mn out-of-school children
Pakistan
President for utilising mosques, seminaries to educate 28mn out-of-school children
ISLAMABAD (APP) – President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday called for making collaborative efforts with mosques and seminaries for imparting education to 28 million out-of-school children.
According to a press release, the president, while chairing a follow-up meeting on mosques and seminaries at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, said that mosques and seminaries could play an important role in promoting ethical values, besides creating awareness about important social and health issues at the grassroots level.
President Alvi stated that imparting education to almost 28 million out-of-school children in Pakistan was a huge challenge, requiring thousands of new schools and additional resources.
He emphasised the need for innovative and non-traditional solutions and collective societal efforts to provide education to out-of-school children.
The president highlighted that mosques and seminaries could play an instrumental role in reforming society and overcoming social evils by promoting ethical values, brotherhood, tolerance, peace, inter-faith harmony, and respect for each other’s rights through Friday sermons.
He also underscored the need to raise awareness through mosques about mental and general health issues, population welfare, inter-faith harmony, women's rights, and malnutrition at the community level.
The president further called for adopting an integrated approach by the ministries of health, education, and religious affairs at the federal and provincial levels, involving mosques and seminaries to educate people about social and health issues.
During the meeting, officials from the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training informed that they had launched an Accelerated Learning Programme to educate out-of-school children.
The meeting was attended by caretaker Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony Aneeq Ahmad, Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology Prof Dr Qibla Ayaz, provincial ministers and officials of the Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department, as well as the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training.
