Wednesday, PM Khan launched Ehsaas Scholarship Program for deserving households. The deserving households refer to parents who can ensure at least 70% attendance of their children.
Under the scholarship program, the government will financially help children whose parents cannot afford school fees. As per the Ehsaas scholarship program, girls will get a higher stipend.
While addressing the launching ceremony of Ehsaas Education Stipends, PM Khan stressed the need for basic education. He lamented that Pakistan has 20 million out-of-school children, and unfortunately the situation did not receive special attention.
Read more: UN concerned about children schooling; a quarter-billion out of school
Therefore, to ease the financial burden, the Ehsaas scholarship program is for students belonging to primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels.
At the primary level, the boys will get quarterly stipends of Rs1,500 and girls Rs2,000. At the secondary level, the boys will get Rs2,500 and girls Rs3,000. Finally, at the higher secondary level, boys will get Rs3,500 and girls Rs 4,000. The government will issue stipends every quarter.
وزیرِ اعظم عمران خان نےاحساس تعلیمی وظائف پروگرام کا اجراء کردیا ہے۔ پروگرام کے تحت لڑکوں کے مقابلے میں لڑکیوں کیلئے وظیفےکی رقم زیادہ ہوگی۔ اس اقدام کابنیادی مقصدوالدین کو اپنی بیٹیوں کوسکول بھیجنےکی ترغیب دینا اور تعلیم کے حصول کیلئے ان کی مدد کرنا ہے۔#EhsaasEducationStipends pic.twitter.com/gBFaMSFoKx
— PTI (@PTIofficial) September 1, 2021
The most important aspect of the Ehsaas scholarship program is that girls will receive a comparatively higher stipend than boys. For every level, girls will receive Rs. 500 extra.
This is being done to encourage more parents to send their daughters to school. In Pakistan, girls make up a large proportion of children out of school.
Read more: Barriers to women education, health and gender equity in Pakistan
Women capable of changing societies
At the launch ceremony, PM Khan said a skilled population is an asset to a country. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s asset is being wasted.
He also said that a skilled and educated woman is capable of doing more for the country than a man. To clarify, an educated woman is able to properly take care of her children, consequently, raising a strong generation for the country’s future.
“She teaches her kids and changes the entire system of her household [such as] health and wellbeing of children, which have a lot of societal impacts,” PM Khan said.
Read more: Rickshaw driver from Peshawar gives free ride to school girls