Govt to launch 3-day school enrollment campaign from Sept 9-11

ISLAMABAD: The government will launch a three-day special campaign from September 9 to 11 to enroll a total of 500,000 children in schools across the country, aiming to enhance the literacy rate.

Addressing a press conference here Saturday, Minister for Planning and Development, Prof Ahsan Iqbal, said that international community will commemorate World Literacy Day on September 8 with resolve to prepare more policies to promote education across the globe.

He said unfortunately Pakistan was far behind globally in social indicators like health, education and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the world, adding that it stood 5th to 6th position as compared with the South Asian countries.

Ahsan Iqbal said about 250 million children aged 5-16 years were out of school, adding he said that in order to get the maximum demographic dividends these children would be equipped with modern education.

"To develop a knowledge-based society and knowledge based economy are the top priorities of the government for swift socioeconomic uplift of the country," he added. (APP)