ISLAMABAD: Traders and industrialists from the capital have decided to work with the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) to provide facilities lacking in 52 schools.

FDE spokesperson Yasir Chattha said FDE Director General Dr Ali Ahmed Kharal and other officials visited the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where the chamber’s president Ahmed Hassan Moughal and other traders assured them they would adopt 52 schools.

The spokesperson said a formal memorandum of understanding will be signed between both organisations in this regard in the coming days.

The traders will have no role in the administration of the schools, and will only help promote education, he said.

The traders’ community has been sought to help with schools that were not renovated under the Prime Minister’s Education Reforms Programme.

Dr Kharal said the government is working to connect “three class based segments” of the education system and emphasising engaging and partnering with non-profit organisations, service oriented organisations and communities to provide free education.

Mr Moughal said education has been the base of development of any country, adding that Pakistan’s young population is large portion of the overall population at 63pc. “There is huge difference between private and public education system,” he said, and vowed to help the FDE uplift public sector schools.

Dr Kharal also informed traders of the recent initiatives the FDE has taken to enrol out-of-school children and said 2,500 teachers conducted a survey and identified 11,069 out-of-school children in Islamabad.

He urged the business community to come forward for this cause.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2019