ISLAMABAD, Jan 22: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will help establish 500 schools in far flung areas of the country to enhance the coordination and strengthen relations between the two countries.

This was decided in a meeting between Federal Minister for Education Zobaida Jalal and the Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ali Mohammad Bin Hamad Al-Shamsi.

The minister said the coordination in this sector would uplift the standard of education and assist Pakistan in achieving the literacy goals. She said such educational assistance would act as leverage to intensify the friendly foreign relations.

The minister said the priority of the ministry was to establish new schools and renovate the old ones. “Our main purpose is to ensure the accessibility of education to every one and any help in this regard will boost our morale”, she said.

She further said the ministry had recently established 8,500 new primary schools in which more than seven million children were getting education.

The UAE ambassador said two brotherly countries have strong relations. He said the UAE would assist Pakistan in education sector and invest in the backward areas to promote education. He said investment would be made in areas like Kharan, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Rajanpur and in the coastal areas of Balochistan.

He said the UAE would also assist in renovation of school buildings and provision of furniture. “We have established Sheikh Zaid International School in the capital which will start working in near future,” he said.

NCHD: Federal Minister for Education Zobaida Jalal, while presiding over a meeting with officials of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) here on Wednesday, stressed the need for expanding education efforts in the backward and remote areas of the country.