Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has extended its support to UNESCO Pakistan with the approved funding of 13.5 million Norwegian Kroner for the improvement of the “Girls’ Lower Secondary Education Programme (GLSEP)”.
Currently, Norway supports the GLSEP programming in the districts of Swat and Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. Considering the low transition of girls’ from primary to secondary level due to multiple reasons, the Norwegian support has significant importance to facilitate girls’ post-primary education in Pakistan.
To strengthen the existing GLSEP portfolio, the Norwegian Government has agreed to the proposal of programme expansion in three additional districts of Pakistan. H.E. Kjell-Gunnar Eriksen, Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan and Ms. Patricia McPhillips, UNESCO’s Representative/Director signed the agreement for additional funding of NOK 11 million to extend the scope of GLSEP in Mohamand, a newly merged tribal district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Muzaffargarh in Punjab and Tharparkar in Sindh provinces respectively. With the additional funding, 112 additional girls’ lower secondary schools including 20 schools from Mohmand district, 30 from Muzaffargarh, and 62 (12 for girls and 50 mixed schools) from Tharpakar will come under the purview of the Norwegian programme. With 46 girls’ schools in Kohistan and Swat, the total coverage of schools under the Norwegian programme will now be 158 girls/mixed lower secondary schools in 05 target districts. In addition to Kohistan and Swat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, the GLSEP in the three newly added districts will supplement its support in the transition of girls from primary to lower secondary education, through local and institutional interventions targeting multiple stakeholders including education officials, school management committees, community leaders, teachers and parents. Ms. Patricia McPhillips commended the additional contribution of the Norwegian government and shared, “Huge number of girls are dropping out after the completion of primary education in Pakistan, particularly in the remotes areas, which is a serious issue.”
