QUETTA: The provincial authorities, in collaboration with Save the Children NGO, have enrolled 400 out-of-school children, including those of Afghan refugees, in schools in the border town of Chaman.

This was revealed in a meeting organised by the Tameer-i-Khalq Foun­dation (TKF), a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation, in collaboration with Save the Children.

The meeting reviewed the progress and performance of the ongoing ‘CONNECT Project’ in Chaman.

The speakers said child labour and out-of-school children in Chaman wers serious problems for which awareness campaigns have been launched.

As a result of these efforts, the guardians of around 400 children have been convinced to enrol them in schools. Among these, 163 were children of Afghan refugees.

According to a survey, 235 girls and 165 boys were admitted to schools.

It was informed that efforts were afoot for capacity building of the teachers, while teaching material has also been provided to educational institutes.

They added that children were being sensitised to deal with harassment and negative social attitudes.

“Comprehensive proposals have been formulated to discourage the practice of punishing children to remove fear and restore their confidence among children,” they added.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2022