Zubair Qureshi
The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in collaboration with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation distributed 20,000 school bags (18,500 to be exact) among students of the government-run schools in the federal capital.
Though a small gesture, yet it was part of the people-to-people contact reflecting the second phase of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the words of the Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing.
The bag distributing ceremony titled ‘Panda Pack Distribution Ceremony’ held at Islamabad Model School for Girls (IMSG) Sector F-7/1 here on Thursday.
Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
PRCS Chairman Abrarul Haq, Secretary General Khalid bin Majeed, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation Vice President Wang Xingzui, Principal of the school Shabnam Afreen, diplomats, officers of the Federal Directorate of Education, PRCS, teachers, volunteers and students were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood said the economic cooperation between Pakistan and China was fast turning into people-to-people collaboration, adding that the distribution of thousands of Panda Packs in Islamabad by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation in collaboration with the PRCS was a proof of the growing multi-faceted relations between the two countries.
Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said Pakistan and China were entering the second phase of CPEC that is largely about people to people contact and cooperation in social and cultural fields. The school bag distribution he said is part of that cooperation.
CPEC, 50 vocational training institutes are being set up, 30 hospitals and fifty junior schools that is all about cooperation among the peoples of the two countries.
He offered China’s all-out support to the PRCS in its services for the ailing humanity.
PRCS Chairman Abrarul Haq who has recently assumed the charge of society, said he was deeply touched by the performance of the school children. The Panda Packs are not just school bags but a ‘package of love’ by China for the people of Pakistan, said he.
Abrar was of the view that around 61 per cent population of Pakistan lived in rural areas, where educational facilities were not up to the mark.
He said distribution of school bags among rural students of the federal capital is a highly welcome initiative.
