PESHAWAR, Aug 19: Minister of State Dr Nasim Ashraf pledged on Thursday to intensify the literacy campaign in the province and make each and every individual literate.

Dr Ashraf, who heads the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), was addressing a meeting attended by Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani at the Frontier House.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, Managing Director of the Elementary Education Foundation Mushtaq Jadoon, Senior Director Operation, Dr Ajmal Khan, Director Education NCHD, Azhar Khan, Director Health NCHD, Dr Mozzam Khalil, Director Operation, Brigadier Pervaiz Khan and Deputy Director Operations in NWFP Aftab Alam.

Dr Ashraf said that almost half a million children aged between five and seven years were out of school in the NWFP.

“The highest concentration of out-of-school children is in Swat (58,136), followed by Peshawar (52,116) and D.I. Khan (41,678), and the lowest concentration of out-of-school children is in Chitral (4076),” he added.

The chief minister said that the adult literacy programme — a joint venture of the NCHD and provincial government — was in full swing and was making record improvement.

“Some 4,800 adult literacy centres have been opened” as part of the programme and “more than 113,000 learners have passed out from these centres”, he said. According to Mr Durrani, more women than men are receiving education in these centres.

Mr Durrani attributed the successes in the literacy programme to merit-based recruitment by both the NCHD and EEF. “We are focusing more on merit-based recruitment in future also, so that we can achieve our gigantic task,” he said.

“The interest level of the community in getting enrolled in adult literacy centres is higher than ever before, as people want to become a useful part of society,” he added.

Mr Jadoon said that in the coming year a total of 10,000 adult literacy centres would be opened across the province.

The chief minister has expressed appreciation for the “tremendous services rendered by the NCHD in the NWFP” and asked Dr Ashraf to expand the programme to other districts as well. He also ensured his full cooperation in future for the uplift of the NWFP.

The National Commission for Human Development is currently working in three districts of the province, but it will soon launch operations in ten more districts, according to Dr Ashraf. “The districts are selected purely on merit and the focus is always on less developed districts,” he said.

With the intervention of the NCHD, Dr Ashraf said the fate of the districts would be totally changed.