PESHAWAR, Jul 12 (APP): Around 1400 non-school-going Afghan children involved in child labour are enrolled in Non-Formal Education (NFE) schools in refugee schools for equipping them with the treasure of education.
The initiative was taken by Helvetas Pakistan, a Swiss-based development organization, through its humanitarian response to address the immediate life needs of vulnerable Afghan communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Initially, we have confined our focus to three districts of KP including Peshawar, Charsadda and Mardan, informed Irshad Ahmad, an official of Helvatas Pakistan.
Talking to APP, Irshad said among these 1400 Afghan children around 25 were disabled including 13 girls and 12 boys.
While giving a break up of the total figure, he said 728 are girls and 672 are boys who were not going to schools but are now getting an education.
The Afghan children are obtaining non-formal education at 22 centres, 12 for girls and 10 for boys in refugee camps including Khazana, Kababyan, Nauguman, Mera Kachori, Hajizai, Utmanzai, Munda and Jalala.
In order to convince parents for allowing their children to get an education, Helvatas teams with the assistance of the Afghan Commissionarate held counselling sessions with 1833 families to motivate them, Irshad added.
Apart from enrolment of out-of-school children, Helvetas Pakistan also provided 3500 students already enrolled in formal schools with learning aids, uniforms and other need-based material.
The students in formal schools were also supported in the continuation of formal education through preparation for the entry test and facilitation of admission.
“All these 1400 Afghan children will be admitted in formal schools after completion of their courses,” says Fazal Ullah, Coordinator of Helvatas Khazana Refugee Camp.
Fazal Ullah told APP that the admission fees, books, school bags and uniforms for all these admitted children will be provided by Hevatas.
According to a report prepared by Afghan Commissionerate, there are around 56 per cent of girls and 44 per cent of boys in Afghan camps who are not getting education or any skill training.
Furthermore, the majority of students in Afghan camps cannot obtain higher education after completing primary at camps.
Haji Gul, an elder at Khazana Refugee Camp highly appreciated the measure taken by Helvetas Pakistan of equipping Afghan children with education, enabling them to stand on their feet and contribute to the development of both the host country and motherland.
A large number of children in refugee camps are deprived of education and such initiatives will help them in getting basic education, adds Haji Gul.
