CHITRAL, March 28 Residents of Daneen and Koh union councils have lauded Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan (AKESP) and European Union for establishing a computer literacy centre at Kuju, some 25 kilometres from here on Booni road.

In a ceremony held here on Saturday for the inauguration of the community learning and resource centre (CLRC), general manager of AKESP Zuhran Shah said that the centre was constructed and equipped with computer and other paraphernalia at a cost of Rs4.5 million which was funded by the EU.

Mr Shah said that the CLRC was the fourth one in the district to provide the youth and students of the remote areas with access to training in information technology. He added that other three CLRCs had been set up in Garam Chashma, Morder and Mastuj areas.

He said that the CLRCs were managed by the local communities for which endowment funds had been provided by the AKESP. He said that the teachers of information technology classes would be paid through the income accrued from the endowment fund and the local resources generated by a committee.

He said that nominal fee would be charged from the learners and the poor students would be exempted, adding the CLRC would also be a community centre where functions would be held in its spacious auditorium equipped with required facilities.

He said that the AKESP had also spent a hefty amount of Rs20 million Euros on female education in the district since 1995. Field manager of AKESP Shakir Ahmed and nazim of Daneen union council Advocate Said Jalal highlighted the importance of computer literacy and information technology.

Speaking on the occasion, tehsil nazim Chitral Sartaj Ahmed Khan said that without computer literacy, the modern education was quite meaningless and the establishment of CLRC was the great contribution of AKESP for the people of this backward area.

He stressed on the committee to ensure discipline in the centre and spare a good deal of time for the females. On the demand of the committee, the tehsil nazim announced to provide electricity to the centre which was presently being electrified by a diesel generator. He also assured the community of all out cooperation from the tehsil municipal administration to provide maximum facilities to the learners in the centre.

District president of PPP-Sherpao Advocate Abdul Wali Khan, who presided over the ceremony, stressed on the people to derive maximum benefit from the centre. He announced five scholarships for the secondary class students of the area to help them carry on their studies.