ISLAMABAD: Government has launched the ‘Ehsaas Taleemi Wazaif’ App to enable enrolment of children from Ehsaas eligible households at their doorstep.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Senator Dr Sania Nishtar launched the App by enrolling a girl student at Government Girls College Kot Hathial, commemorating International Day of Education observed globally on January 24 every year.
During the event, Dr Sania Nishtar herself enrolled a girl in the school stipends program. She sat with school children, mothers, and teachers and guided them about the digital enrollment process through the newly-launched android app.
“Education offers the poorest families a ladder out of poverty and a path to prosperity. That is why Ehsaas is focusing on improving the education access of the poorest families through its school stipend program,” said Dr Sania Nishtar while speaking to the media.
“Facilitating people to self-enroll their children under the program, we have also introduced the app today. Using this app, families can enroll their children themselves at their doorstep without visiting any office.”
In the next three years, the Ehsaas Taleemi Wazaif program intends to bring 10 million deserving children into its fold from 160 districts of Pakistan. To date, over 6.7 million children have already been enrolled.
The purpose of the Ehsaas Taleemi Wazaif Program is to assist vulnerable households and reduce the number of out-of-school children. Currently, there are 18.7 million out-of-school children in Pakistan. According to the Ehsaas policy, Ehsaas Taleemi Wazaif gives a higher amount of stipend to girls as compared to boys.
Stipends are given from primary to the higher secondary level to children aged 4-22 years from families eligible in the Ehsaas ecosystem. The program encourages parents to send their children, particularly girls to schools. All payments are linked to a satisfactory school/college attendance of children.
“Our government has also introduced Ehsaas graduation bonus for girls completing the 5th grade to address the issue of girls dropping out of school,” stated Dr Sania.
This year’s International Day of Education is a platform to showcase the most important transformations that have to be nurtured to realize everyone’s fundamental right to education and build a more sustainable, inclusive, and peaceful future.
