President Dr. Arif Alvi emphasized the crucial importance of raising awareness, providing training, and imparting life skills to individuals with special needs for their meaningful integration into society. During his visit to the Society for Children in Need of Special Assistance (SCINOSA) Day Home, an institute catering to those with Down syndrome and other mental challenges, President Alvi, accompanied by First Lady Samina Arif Alvi, highlighted the significance of education and practical skills for individuals with different abilities. President Alvi expressed that children with diverse abilities are integral members of society, and by equipping them with essential living skills, they can lead independent lives and perform daily tasks on their own.
He further emphasized the necessity of creating specific employment opportunities tailored to the capabilities of differently-abled individuals, stressing the importance of providing them with job-specific skills. Approach towards children with different abilities has been changing across the globe with emphasis on their enrollment in routine schools and we in Pakistan as well need to step forward and work together for breaking the taboos and social stigma attached with mental and physical challenges, he noted.
Federal and Sindh governments has made a laudable progress in the regard by reserving special quota for differently able persons in public sector jobs while banking sector was also inducting special persons, Dr. Alvi observed adding that Governor SBP and heads of different banks also assured of further steps in the regard in a recent meeting on inclusion and empowerment of special persons and women. The president said that mass awareness plays a key role in changing social perceptions and behaviors and that was witnessed during special campaign on breast cancer.
He added that awareness initiatives including text and voice messages on symptoms and prevention reached millions of people across the country led to saving hundreds of precious lives. Dr. Arif Alvi specially mentioned efforts of the First Lady Samina Arif Alvi for raising mass awareness regarding breast cancer and differently able children and said that now she was working on mental health.
Honorary secretary SCINOSA Zulfiqar Ali Ramzi speaking at the occasion said that realizing the fact that with special care and awareness children with different abilities can live their lives SCINOSA Day Home was imparting all necessary skills to them. Principal SDH, Rizwana Khanum briefed that major objective of the society was to establish a platform for teaching and training of children with different types of difficulties, to help them become self-sufficient and value-adding members of the society.
Earlier, President Dr. Arif Alvi, visited different parts of the institute to inspect facilities for education and training of differently abled children and interacted with the special students who were busy at work either in learning classes, vocational activities or sports. President Dr. Arif Alvi, also planted a sapling at SCINOSA Day Home at the occasion.
