LAHORE: The Punjab Department of Human Rights and Minority Affairs, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Youth Development Foundation (YDF), distributed scholarships among the youth from religious minorities at the St Anthony’s Church here on Thursday.

Provincial Minister for Human Rights Ijaz Alam Augustine was the chief guest of the ceremony while MPA Haroon Imran Gill, Parliamentary Secretary for Human Rights Sardar Mahender Pal Singh, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw, Bishop Irfan Jamil, Secretary Human Rights Nadeemur Rehman and head of YDF Shahid Rehmat were part of the event.

Mr Augustine said allocation of special quota for religious minorities in the higher education sector had helped thousands of young people get higher jobs.

HR&MA Deputy Director Muhammad Yousuf informed the audience that the scholarships worth Rs4.2m were being distributed among 159 promising young people from the minority communities of Lahore division to help them resolve their problems in education.

HR Secretary Nadeemur Rehman said the department was giving Rs15,000 per annum to the matriculation students and Rs50,000 per annum to professional level students.

CPWB teachers: Twenty-three teachers from the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau received training in child development and child rights in a three-day short course by non-government organizations, which concluded on Friday.

Teachers learned about understanding child development and protection issues, positive disciplining techniques, 21st century core skills, and providing psychological first aid skills necessary for dealing with difficult behaviour in care institutions. The project aims to reduce incidents of corporal punishment. After Covid-19, psycho-social support for children has also been incorporated in the project.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2020