KHAIRPUR: US Consul General Brian Heath, along with Sindh Minister for Education Jam Mehtab Dahar, on Tuesday inaugurated a high school in the Kolab Jeal area of Khairpur district.

The school has been established under the Sindh Basic Education Programme (SBEP) jointly funded by the USAID and the Sindh government.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Mr Heath said that a total of 106 such schools were being established under the SBEP.

The US, he said, was making a huge investment in Pakistan’s education sector.

The US envoy said that the Kolab Jeal school was equipped with all essential facilities to impart quality education to 500 students at a time. He hoped that after getting education at this schools, students would be able to live a better life which in turn would help strengthen Pakistan.

He said that four such schools had recently been opened in Khairpur and Sukkur. The USAID was providing $155 million to establish more than 100 schools fully equipped with modern facilities, he said, adding that the funding would help promote education and improve administration at the schools. He said that around 400,000 students, specially female, would benefit from these institutions.

In his speech, Mr Dahar thanked the USAID and Mr Heath for the funding and said that it did not only increase the number of schools in the province but would also help improving the quality of education.

He said the education department was taking steps to provide training to teachers.

Education Secretary Fazlu­llah Pechuho and SBEP Direc­tor Rafique Buriro also spoke.

USAID Director Denise Herbol, senior policy adviser Randy Hatfield and Sukkur Commissioner Abbas Baloch attended the ceremony.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2016