Sindh Community Mobilization Program, in collaboration with USAID and the Program Management and Implementation Unit (PMIU), Government of Sindh (GOS) organized an opening and handing over ceremony for Government High School (GHS) Satabo, Khairpur.
The event was chaired by Mr. Javed Ali Jaageerani, Deputy Commissioner, Khairpur District, who also led the inauguration ceremony. The ceremony was witnessed by Mr. Naeem Ahmed Kharal, Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Sindh; Mr. Abdul Aziz Hakro, Director School Education and Literacy Department (SELD); the Program Manager of PMIU; as well as District Education Officials, District Administration and civil society representatives.
Mr. Javed Ali Jaageerani, Deputy Commissioner Khairpur
The event gathered a large number of people from different walks of life, such as SBEP partners’ representatives including Sindh Reading Program, Sindh Capacity Development Program, Halcrow, school management committee members, politicians, notable community members, parents, teachers, students, civil society members and media representatives. At the event all SBEP partners set up stalls to disseminate program related information to participants.
Children performing a Cultural Tableau
During the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Muhammad Mushq, Head Teacher, GHS Satabo gave historical background and an overview of the school followed by a speech by Ms. Qurat Al Ain, student of grade 10. She highlighted the importance of education by saying, “Education is like a candle in the darkness and hope for the hopeless.” Students of GHS Satabo also performed a tableau on folk song to showcase the colors and contrasts of Sindh. During the event, the Program Manager of PMIU briefed the audience and media on the program’s different components, scope and progress made so far. He also emphasized student, especially girls’, enrollment.
Ms. Qurat Al Ain, Student Grade 10
Mr. Abdul Aziz Hakro, Director SELD highlighted the Education Management Organization (EMO) reforms aspect of the program and stated that he considers it an intervention with very high potential. Mr. Abdul Aziz also focused on the importance of public-private partnerships, not only at the EMO level but also at the grass-root level where individual community members, parents and School Management Committee (SMC) members can take active part in ensuring the effective management of schools.
In his speech, Mr. Naeem Ahmed Kharal, MPA, Sindh Assembly highlighted education quality and access for girls, stating them as the two most important aspects to education reform, and acknowledged USAID and the American people for their generous contribution of 106 state of the art schools in Sindh.
Naeem Ahmed Kharal, MPA
On this occasion, Mr. Javed Ali Jaageerani, Deputy Commissioner, Khairpur acknowledged the generous contribution of USAID and assured his full support during the implementation of the program. He pledged to all of the concerned stakeholders, especially teachers, parents and education department officials to take an active part in improving quality education. He stated, “With this state of the art educational facility there is no reason that our children should lag back in the developmental process. We must accelerate our progress and should learn from such reforms because this is the time of knowledge economy.”
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CMP is a USAID-funded program that supports the Government of Sindh’s education reform and USAID’s Sindh Basic Education Program. CMP improves school resources and encourages community support for educational reform in Sindh province while identifying and addressing primary barriers to access, particularly for female students.
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