Five new centres are being established at a cost of Rs 25 million for the education and training of special children so that they could become self-reliant citizens of the society. This was stated by Provincial Minister for Special Education Qudsia Lodhi addressing a function, here on Wednesday.
'In addition to existing, five new institutions at Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur and D.G. Khan are being established', she said. There is a need of rehabilitation of mentally retarded children through proper education and training, she added. Qudsia Lodhi said 500 such children will be looked after in these new centres.
She opined that main aim of establishment of Special Education Department is to rehabilitate and transform special children into useful and self-reliant citizens of the society. She said that besides education and training, it is the top priority of the department to provide employment opportunities to them.
'In our society mentally retarded children were kept hidden in houses, therefore, it is the responsibility of educated persons of the society to create awareness among the parents of such children to get their children admitted in special education institutions so that they could be provided education and training according to their mentally capabilities,' she said.