LAHORE, Feb 20: Swedish ambassador Ann Wilkens said on Friday education and health were the prerequisites for development that ultimately led to peace and democracy.

Ms Wilkens was speaking at the first annual teachers' award ceremony organized by the Pak-Swedish Teachers Association here on Friday. The PSTA is running 265 primary schools in the rural areas of the Punjab, mostly in the localities around brick kilns. Nearly 17,645 students are getting basic education skills being imparted by 290 teachers in these schools.

Stressing the importance of girls' education, the ambassador said a mother, who could read and write, was in a better position to keep her children healthy than an illiterate mother.

"Educating girls and women give positive spin-offs and relatively higher returns for the entire family as well as in national terms," she said.

Ms Wilkens said she had visited some of the brick kiln schools and was impressed with the dedication and commitment of the teachers, who were often working in difficult conditions. She said these teachers needed to be praised.

She said those parents, who made sure that their children attended the schools, should be honoured. The children making efforts to learn and come out of abject poverty deserved appreciation.

The ambassador said the daily struggle of the teachers in the brick kiln schools might not at first glance seem very glamorous, but in reality it was an integral part of development, peace and democracy.

She said the Swedish society was relatively more harmonious, and the government had a strong relation of confidence in the NGO sector. Ms Wilkens also said the PSTA's Pakistani side should gradually take over the responsibility for the administration as well as the financing.

Earlier, Punjab Special Education Minister Qudsia Lodhi urged the Swedish ambassador to extend help to promote the sector of special education along with the education for less privileged children.

She said the special children were also part of society, but being neglected by the governments in the past. Now, the government had created an independent department of special education to focus this vital area of the society.

In the developed world, she said, the special persons were taken along to contribute to the national development. She said the developed world constructed each and every building while considering the needs of special persons.

Ms Lodhi said the Punjab government was also focusing on education and offering free education from Class-I to X in all the public sector schools in the province.

PSTA Secretary-General Samuel Iqbal said the teachers' awards were a source of great encouragement to the teachers, who had devoted their lives to this noble cause.

Earlier, two teachers each from Bhatta Habibullah and Bhatta Rana Bheekan, Manga, were given awards. The selected teachers were Yasir and Ayesha, Nasir and Karamat, respectively.

A brick kiln owner Boby was also presented shield for supporting the educational activities in his area. The brick kiln child workers currently studying in PSTA schools also presented a national song.