ISLAMABAD, Feb 4: The government intends to offer 10 more schools, out of the total 451 schools and colleges of the Islamabad Capital Territory, for adoption by private partners, under its public-private partnership scheme.

This was said in briefing given to Marcia Dam, wife of US under-secretary of state for treasury, by Education secretary Tariq Farooque, and Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) director-general Brig (Rtd) Maqsoodul Hasan.

Ms Dam was visiting the federal government girls public school in Saidpur village on Monday. She was told that, under the public-private partnership, the government would continue controlling the schools by paying salaries to the teachers and taking care of utility bills. However, other affairs and matter will be managed by the respective managements.

The school in Saidpur has recently been adopted by a private institution called “Headstart”, while Rozan, an NGO, has initiated different programmes for teachers’ training and creating self growth and skill development among students.

Situated in an old Hindu temple, the schools has a total strength of 491 students, including 256 girls. Boys attend their classes in the evening shift.

The school was shifted to its present place in 1960s, when its own building became so dilapidated that classes could not be held there any longer without risking students’ lives.

During the visit of the US under-secretary’s wife, the school management demanded that a plot should be allotted adjacent to the temple so that the school could be upgraded to the secondary level.

Later, Ms Dam, talking to Dawn, said she had asked some US-based Pakistani citizens to send their children to Pakistan as a “peace corp”, on voluntary basis, to teach English to the students of different schools, as they could also speak Urdu language.

In the US, there exists a partnership on school-to-school basis, and a similar pattern can be followed here to share one another’s experiences, she suggested.

Naznin Murtaza of the Headstart, speaking on the occasion, said the majority of people living in Saidpur worked in different public offices in lower cadre, while 60 per cent women of the area were illiterate. However, for the last six to seven years, there has been increased awareness regarding importance of girl literacy in the area, which is evident from the fact that more girl are coming to the school, and they continue studies till the 8th grade.

She said the first step, after the adoption, would be to renovate the building, adding, recently, Rs20,000 were generated on self-help basis for hiring three teachers and buying books. Seminars have also been arranged to provide parents as well as teachers an opportunity to interact for advocacy in education and policy dialogue.

To a question, Ms Murtaza said the curriculum was, however, approved by the government.

Later, Ms Dam also visited a nearby women centre being run by Behbud Association of Pakistan, where women were imparted skills to help increase income generation through embroidery and other skills.

She said she was very impressed with the dedication of the volunteers, and the quality of their stuff could be compared with the items available at big stores in New York.