Head of the European Commission delegation in pakistan jan de kok with officials of AKES, P, and students of the AKES schools.

ISLAMABAD, May 7: The head of delegation of the European Commission in Pakistan Jan De Kok here on Wednesday said the Northern Pakistan Education Programme (NPEP) of the Aga Khan Development Network was successful in increasing enrolments for both boys and girls besides improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools, non-formal centres and other educational institutions.

He was speaking at a seminar held to celebrate a decade-long partnership in the field of education between the AKDN and the European Commission organised by the Aga Khan Foundation.

He applauded the AKDN for its work in advancing effective and sustainable education in the Northern Areas and Chitral.

He said the programme also played an instrumental role in promoting gender awareness that significantly increased the enrolment rate of girls and women in the educational institutions. Referring to the global partnership agreement between the AKDN and the EC, the ambassador said collaboration between the two institutions was creating development opportunities for the people in many parts of the world.

NPEP was implemented by Aga Khan Education Service in two phases (1997-2003 and 2003 up to this year) in the Northern Areas and Chitral with financial support from the European Commission.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Executive Officer Aga Khan Foundation, Al Nashir Jamal, said AKDN and its predecessor institutions had been active in Pakistan for over a hundred years. The first Aga Khan school was established in Gwader in 1905.The network is bringing together a number of development agencies, institutions and programmes that work primarily in the poorest parts of Asia and Africa. The AKDN agencies make a long- term commitment to the areas in which they work, guided by the philosophy that the work must reflect the choices made by people themselves on how they live and wish to improve their prospects.

Head of the European Commission delegation in pakistan jan de kok gives a gift to a girl from kirmin chipursan[Gojal Hunza] at a function in islamabad

He said that the support provided by the European Commission, the two levels of the government, local communities, civil society organisations and the private sector had enabled the AKDN to increase access, quality and effective governance for the education system in the Northern Areas and Chitral. He said because of this support, the AKES schools now account for approximately oneeighth of total primary enrolments and they include nearly half of the girls’ enrolments in the area. Girls in AKES schools outnumber boys by more than three to one. [Courtsy: Daily DAWN]