CHITRAL: General manager of the Aga Khan Education Service Pakistan (AKES-P) for Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral Region retired Brigadier Khosh Mohammad Khan has said his organisation is committed to promoting quality education in the region.

He was addressing the groundbreaking ceremony for a higher secondary school for boys and girls in Garam Chashma here on Tuesday.

Mr Khan said the AKES-P was striving to promote quality education in Chitral and had enhanced the budget for it from Rs0.32 billion to Rs1 billion.

He said his organisation had increased the amount of stipend for the poor yet talented students, while its efforts took the annual enrolment in schools from 5,900 to 18,000.

The GM said the school in the remote valley of Lower Chitral would be a game-changer in the field of education, as envisioned by Princess Zahra Aga Khan.

He said the princess’s recent visit to Chitral gave a final endorsement to the project.

The ceremony was attended by a major donor of the project and a Pakistani-Canadian couple, Feroze Ghulam Hussain and Parveen Ghulam Hussain, Pakistan Army’s Lieutenant Colonel Anjum Mushtaq, AKES-P chief executive officer Imtiaz Momin, Lower Chitral regional council president Zafaruddin and local notables.

Earlier, a technical team of the organisation said the school’s building would be the first of its kind in the district due to its “green design and sustainability.”

It added that 3,000 boys and girls would be admitted to the school on a need basis in two shifts, from early childhood development class to intermediate class.

Feroze Ghulam Hussain, Lt-Col Anjum Mushtaq, Zaffaruddin and Imtiaz Momin also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2024