QUETTA: Balochistan Minister for Social Welfare Mir Asad Baloch has said the government is making all-out efforts to provide maximum facilities to students to remove illiteracy from the province.

Speaking at a function held in connection with the International Literacy Day on Wednesday, he said: “An educated Balochistan is the guarantor of our success and the role of teachers is very important to eradicate illiteracy from the province.”

He said teachers, parents and society at large had to play a very important role in the promotion of education.

The minister said the young generation had been badly affected by the spread of drugs and there was a need for acting against the elements involved in the illegal business.

He said the government as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and philanthropists should make joint efforts to eradicate illiteracy.

Speaking on the occasion, Social Welfare Secretary Rauf Baloch said that no nation or society could progress without education and “it is our responsibility to light the candle of education and knowledge in our province and keep the candle of hope burning”.

He said: “We have to adorn everyone with the ornament of knowledge. Every school of thought has to think because educated Balochistan is our dream to ensure prosperity and development in the province.”

He said some people achieved their vested interest by keeping guns on their shoulders and pushing the society into the ages of darkness. “We have to work openly against such elements because they are taking our young generation to the brink of destruction,” he added.

Mr Baloch said there was no difference between rich and the poor when it was about what one could achieve.

“We have to do a lot to spread education and literacy in the province for which everyone, including NGOs, have to play a role,” he said.

Representatives of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund and various NGOs were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2021