United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will receive a grant of approximately $3.5 million from Government of Japan for supporting its initiative to provide quality alternative education to out-of-school children and adolescents in Pakistan.
The grant will be used by UNICEF during its new country programme (2018-2022), to establish 400 centres under the Alternative Learning Programme (ALP), led by the government.
Notes to this effect were signed and exchanged between Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan Takashi Kurai and UNICEF Representative in Pakistan Aida Girma and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Yasuhiro Tojo.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Ambassador of Japan to Pakistan, Takashi Kurai said, “Education plays a critical role not only for the development of individual talents and ability, but for the overall economic development of the nation. For the purpose of ensuring inclusive and quality education for all, Japan will continue to support improvement of education in Pakistan and I do believe that the society in which everyone shines will be achieved.”
Japan International Cooperation Agency Chief Representative , Yasuhiro Tojo said, “Non-formal education (NFE) has been a consistent priority of JICA since 2004. Our on-going technical assistance has multiple aspects including inputs to Pakistan Education Statistics to plan, implement and monitor NFE interventions across Pakistan through an integrated credible source of information.”
Nearly 15,000 adolescents between the ages of nine to 16 as well as younger children would get a second chance to quality primary education at these centres to be established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan. It would also help these children and adolescents to be mainstreamed into the regular education system at lower secondary and secondary level.
