A global award for their outstanding work in improving the learning environment in schools was bestowed upon Secretaries of Parent Teacher Councils (PTCs) from Newly Merged Areas of KP by the German Agency International Cooperation (GIZ).
The teacher’s initiative has been selected from over 100 development projects from around the world as best practices for women’s empowerment. Shahram Khan Tarakai, the Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education together with representatives from GIZ awarded the prizes to thirty-nine head teachers that were selected among over 2200 primary schools from the merged areas.
The event celebrated contributions by women for development in the merged areas. The GIZ’s FATA Development Programme supported 5000 parent-teacher councils with capacity development including the opening of bank accounts to receive PKR 3.6 Billion in government funds for school improvement under the conditional grant programme funded by the Elementary and Secondary Education Department government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Despite working in very difficult circumstances in the merged areas, the work of female parent-teacher councils from girls’ schools significantly contributes to bringing the tribal districts to par with the rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Shahram Khan Tarakai, the Minister of Elementary and Secondary Education, while appreciating the efforts of female teachers from remote regions of merged areas, stressed the role of female teachers in building societies. He also commended the struggle that many schools have completed their work on providing additional classrooms, toilet blocks, clean water, boundary walls, play areas, and, recently, the hiring of local teachers. He stated that the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to improving situations in schools. The efforts under the conditional grants program aim to provide easy and cost-effective access to missing facilities at the local level. He also vowed to allocate more funds to similar initiatives soon.
Dr. Peer Gatter, Head of the FATA Development Programme, spoke about the long-standing and trustful development cooperation between Pakistan and Germany. He congratulated the Head Teachers for the outstanding achievement and said that education, especially girls’ education is of utmost importance for the sustainable development of merged areas.
Assistance from GIZ FATA Development Programme to the Elementary and Secondary Education Department includes the provision of technical assistance and capacity development in planning and governance to improve service delivery. GIZ-FDP also invested in the capacity development of staff at the provincial and district levels in public financial management, procurement, use of data, leadership, and management school level, and EMIS. GIZ FDP is funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
