The Sindh Education Foundation (SEF) has warned that it will not release subsidies to over 2600 SEF-assisted schools across the province until compliance reports are received from each of these educational facilities showing adequate investment in academic infrastructure and judicious use of public funds regularly provided to educate children from deprived communities.
The newly appointed SEF Managing-Director, Gahanwer Ali Laghari, spelled out this warning while speaking as the chief guest at the launching of the new state-of-the-art building of Mohammad Shafi Trust campus school of non-profit Green Crescent Trust (Green Crescent Trust) at an underdeveloped village of District Malir near the Education City project. The GCT is partnering with the SEF and two other non-governmental organisations, Mohammad Shafi Trust and Khuddam Education Trust, to utilise the new school building to educate up to Class 10, 660 students from the nearby 22 underserved villages.
Laghari said that he had assumed the position of SEF chief merely 15 days back, and so far his main focus had been that regular funding provided by the foundation to the NGOs-run schools across the province was utilised most effectively for providing quality school education to children from neglected and remote localities.
He told the audience at the inauguration ceremony that SEF paid a subsidy of Rs 800 to Rs 2000 every month to every student from pre-school to Class 10 in its beneficiary schools, and this monthly assistance increased to Rs 2,500 for students enrolled in higher secondary classes. In case of some special SEF-funded academic initiatives, up to Rs 5,000 monthly subsidy is paid, said Laghari.
The SEF MD said that these were public funds paid out by the Sindh government to provide quality education to children from undeprivileged families from Karachi to Kashmore and he would make sure that this assistance was spent most judiciously to fulfill prime objective of this subsidy programme.
Laghari informed the audience that he had so far visited remote areas in five districts in Sindh with the aim that the SEF’s assistance was available to educate children from these underserved communities under a public-private partnership arrangement.
He said the SEF was willing to fully cooperate with committed and sincere NGOs and non-profits in the education sector that strived to educate people from neglected areas in Sindh under formal and non-formal schooling initiatives. “You should keep in mind that Sindh Education Foundation isn’t an NGO, it is a government-run organisation that doesn’t take money but always extends financial assistance to fund quality schooling initiatives in Sindh,” said the SEF MD.
He appreciated that several concerned philanthropists and donors from Karachi had come to attend the inauguration of the new school building on the city’s outskirts, despite sultry weather, showing their solemn commitment to the cause of education. Laghari offered the fullest assistance to the GCT and its partner organisations in their drive to provide quality schooling facilities to children from deprived areas of Sindh.
He appreciated that three sincere NGOs had jointly partnered with the SEFF to provide quality school education to 660 underprivileged children from various neglected villages in District Malir.
Trustee of Mohammad Shafi Trust, Mian Amjad Hafeez, hoped that the new school building would transform the destiny of thousands of underprivileged rural families by providing quality school education to their children who in future would meaningfully contribute to the progress of the national economy.
He highlighted that three concerned NGOs forming an alliance with the SEF would emerge as a shining example of public-private partnership in the education sector to brighten the future of underserved children in Sindh.
Chairman of Khuddam Education Trust, Shabbir Latif, also praised the alliance formed by four organisations for the joint effort to build the quality schooling facility for rural areas of District Malir.
GCT CEO, Zahid Saeed, said the GCT, partnering with SEF and like-minded NGOs, had been striving uninterruptedly for the past 31 years to enrol out-of-school children in Sindh.
He expressed sincere gratitude to the SEF and other partner organisations of GCT allowing it to establish a network of 170 charitable schools in remote and underprivileged parts of Sindh having a total enrollment of 32,800 students from deprived communities.
He said the GCT getting immense support from its donors, patrons, and partner NGOs would continue its committed struggle to provide quality school educate to every neglected child in Sindh.
