ISLAMABAD, March 23: An official of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has reiterated US government's commitment to enhancing Pakistan's literacy rate.
Dr Sarah Wright, senior education officer of the USAID said this at the inaugural ceremony of a five-day family literacy workshop, organized by an NGO at the Teacher Resource Centre, G-9/3, here the other day.
She said Pakistan was facing multifarious challenges and stressed the need for make literate the population to face these challenges. "We want the people to be literate enough to take up these challenges", she said, underscoring the importance of parents' participation in their child education.
This is a vital aspect of the Children Resource Centre's 'Democratic School Programme' she maintained. "No programme in Pakistan has claimed so many success as the family literacy programme of CRI. There are now mothers coming to the classrooms and learning and we sure they must be exercising an influence in their child's education," she said.
Even by reading a simple story the mothers open a new door to learning Dr Wright added. Raja Tariq Kiyani Nazim Rawalpindi District speaking on the occasion said "adult literacy programme would be another landmark like its early childhood education programme."
He said that Rawalpindi district government was also opening adult literacy centres throughout the district trying to reach out to people who could not go to school.
Mr Kiyani claimed that in literacy Rawalpindi has achieved top position in Punjab. The visiting CRI executive director said that when CRI team in Washington dreamt of the family literacy programme they thought this programme would be only for mothers. "But what we see is grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunties involved in the programme." It is like an adventure, as you do not know how much you are going to influence the lives of these people.
The CRI country director Mehnaz Akber Aziz, on the occasion said, "we have provided opportunity not only to parents but also to brothers and sisters, grandparents who did not have the opportunity to learn." She said 1200 parents will be made literate through this programme.
The CRI family literacy programme an important component of the early childhood education programme was started in January 2003. It is an effort to increase the literacy level of parents especially mothers so that they help their child in their learning process.
