Achieving MDGs: '0.2 million literacy centres should be set up every year'

Chairperson of National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Dr Nafisa Shah has said that Pakistan needs 200,000 literacy centres every year to achieve Millennium Development Goals 2015. She said Pakistan's literacy rate is 56 percent and it has to achieve target of 86 percent till 2015.
She was addressing a meeting organised by Media Forum for Literacy & EFA, Pakistan Association for Counting and Adult Education (PACADE) in collaboration with NCHD on Saturday. Dr Nafisa said that despite economic challenges and challenges of extremism, government is committed to the cause of literacy. She also said that floods had further aggravated the situation.
She said that NCHD is working in collaboration with Sindh government and they are establishing 5,000 centres with the cost of rupees 160 million in the flood-affected areas of the province. She further said that these centres will train women with the skill of stitching besides giving them training in reading and writing. She added that they are working with the support of business community and organisations like Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other trader organisations are supporting them.
Chairperson NCHD said that other provinces should start this type of programmes in their provinces especially in the flood-affected areas of the provinces. She termed literacy the best weapon against extremism. She also said that the basic reason behind extremism in the country is menace of illiteracy. We can fight with the wave of extremism by educating our people, she said.
She said that Pakistan could not achieve MDGs without the support of NGOs, civil society and media. She urged the provincial government to play their effective role in increasing the literacy rate by 2015. She said that commission is planning to involve young people in the movement by involving universities in the movement.
While pointing out the achievements of PPP government, Dr Nafisa said that after the 18th amendment, education is the right of every citizen and it is the responsibility of the government that they provide education to all. She said that education policy is the biggest achievement of the government wherein they tried to end class-based education system in the country. Director General NCHD, Zulfiqar Ahmed, President PACADE Inayatullah, Convenor Media Forum for Literacy, Mansoor Malik and Secretary of the forum Khalid Khattak also spoke on the occasion.