HYDERABAD, Sept 8: Heads of district and taluka administrations, civil society organisations and officials of education department across the province expressed the hope that literacy in the province would increase to 80 per cent by 2015 while speaking at different programmes held to mark the World Literacy Day on Saturday.

In Hyderabad, a large number of students and teachers participated in an educational rally, organised by the education department.

ADO (education) city, Saeedur Rehman, supervisor, Fazal Illahi Memon and Mohammad Siddique Ghori pledged to increase literacy rate to 100 per cent, which was 48 per cent in the province. They hoped it could be increased to 80 per cent by 2015.

They paid tribute to the organisations, which were striving for eliminating child labour and appealed to the parents and civil society to ensure that all the children were sent to schools without any exception.

In Naushahro Feroze, Mirpurkhas, Jacobabad, Larkana, Shikarpur, Sanghar and several other towns and districts of the provinces hundreds of students, women, teachers, and officials of education department took part in walks and rallies.