Rotary Club Karachi Nexus organised a focus meeting to mark Literacy Month, with Rotarians, district officials, education representatives and members of civil society in attendance.
Senior representatives from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNIO and other United Nations bodies participated in the meeting. Officials and representatives from NADRA and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also attended.
Faiz Kidwai, Chairman of Rotary Pakistan United for Literacy (UTC), attended as the chief guest. Abdul Jabbar Murri, Director of Nourpha Education, was the guest of honour. Iqbal Qureshi, associated with Literacy Nation Pakistan, also attended.
Focus on Out-of-School Children
Muhammad Ali Haider, General Secretary of Rotary Club Karachi Nexus, briefed participants on the club’s Out-of-School Children project.
The project aims to identify and enrol school-age children who are currently out of school in two Union Councils. Rotary representatives said the initiative seeks to ensure that no school-age child in the selected areas remains outside the education system.
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The club’s General Secretary and Literacy Chair also discussed Rotary’s collaboration with district leadership to support the project.
Rotary Highlights Education Initiatives
Rotary Club Karachi Nexus President Malik Tahir Iqbal Arain addressed the gathering and presented an overview of the club’s education initiatives.
He highlighted the organisation’s work in the education sector and announced plans to develop a disability-focused agenda through the Rotary Club Karachi Nexus platform.
District Governor Rotary International District 3271 Pakistan Shahzad Sabir praised the Out-of-School Children project.
He said the district would support RC Nexus in advancing the initiative. Sabir added that he had promoted the project at various forums and wanted it to become a district-level project in the future.
Faiz Kidwai Calls for Government School Reform
Faiz Kidwai stressed the importance of improving the structure and facilities of government schools.
He said education quality could not improve without addressing weaknesses in government schools. He also argued that Pakistan could not achieve broad-based access to quality education by relying only on private schools.
Kidwai also spoke about changing social values. He said education had improved over time, but society needed greater attention to civility and character building.
He called for stronger efforts to help children become responsible and constructive members of society.
Kidwai said Rotary Pakistan would continue implementing projects in collaboration with UNICEF. He also briefed participants about a tablet programme launched by Pakistan Smart Village.
He called for a long-term national education plan involving the chief ministers of all four provinces.
Collaboration to Continue
At the conclusion of the meeting, Adeel, Chairman of Non-Formal Education for the district, delivered the vote of thanks.
He said Rotary Club Karachi Nexus would continue organising initiatives focused on education and literacy.
Muslim Hands, representing CRA, will also collaborate with Rotary on relevant initiatives, according to the organisers.
Aslam Khaliq, Chair of Membership Development, presented membership certificates to new members during the event.
A large number of Rotary members and community representatives attended the meeting, including former club president Khurram Anis, founder Kausar Aslam, former president Ana Haider, Dr Khalid Hussain Sheikh, Javed Zaidi, Shakeel A. Baig, Shujaat Baig, Mirza Intikhab Alam and several other members and officials.
