Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari Mulls To Revamp OPF Schools System

(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari mulls to revamp OPF schools system

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis (SAPM) Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari here Saturday expressed his resolve to bring structural changes in Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) schools system to provide maximum education facilities to the children of Pakistani diaspora working abroad.

ISLAMABAD,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Dec, 2018 ) :Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis (SAPM) Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari here Saturday expressed his resolve to bring structural changes in Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) schools system to provide maximum education facilities to the children of Pakistani diaspora working abroad. "There is a dire need to set up these schools in areas like Gujranwala and Lahore where the families of these expatriates are residing in large number," he said during annual day ceremony of Islamabad Convent school (ICS).

He also revealed that he would constitute a task force comprising heads of leading private schools next-week to seek their suggestions about making the OPF schools more vibrant institutions, besides enrolling the maximum children of overseas Pakistanis.

It is to mention here that the 24 schools of OPF were imparting education to about 3,697 children of expatriates, making some 20 percent of total 19,051 students, enrolled by the OPF in all its schools and colleges in current academic calender.

Earlier addressing the ceremony, the SAPM congratulated the ICS staff, students and parents over holding of annual day and termed well-schooling a privilege for a student which was not otherwise available to different people. He advised the students against abusing this privilege and regretted that he could not manage to get higher education, which was a big mistake.

Zulfikar said education and knowledge were not only meant for getting a degree rather, it could help foster socio-religious cohesion and tolerance, adding that less-education eventually resulted in moral decay of the society and these factors were major reasons behind corruption, terrorism and other social evils.

"Provision of education to every young Pakistani including minorities and other marginalized segments of the society certainly helps us to bring peace and prosperity in the country," he remarked.

Principal ICS Sister Parveen Rehmat said, currently there were 20 branches of the ICS functioning across the country and underlined the need for public-private partnership to revolutionize the education system in Pakistan. She said, at present, they were not receiving foreign donation for certain reasons prompting them to devise a future policy to run the affairs of these schools.

To this, Zulfikar Bukhari assured the Principal his government's full support to promote public-private partnership and informed her that a twelve-member delegation of archbishops from the United Kingdom was likely to visit Pakistan by January 4 next year. He said the delegation was also planning to visit slums areas and their community schools in the country.

Meanwhile, the ICS students of various classes showcased their art and cultural activities, whereas they also enthralled the audience by dancing to various cultural beats and exhibited the culture of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Later, their judo and commando teams demonstrated their knacks by breaking card boards and light weight marbell sticks and received big applause of the audience.