ISLAMABAD -  United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Nancy Izzo Jackson visited Bokra Government School for Boys at I-12 settlement here and met with Afghan refugee students.

During the visit, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees officials briefed the deputy assistant secretary about the school that started accepting Afghan students in 2016 after advocacy by the UNHCR, said a US embassy statement.

The school is the only government primary school located in the vicinity of I-12 Afghan settlement that offers free education from kindergarten to grade five.

Jackson appreciated the notion that the number of Afghan refugee students had increase at the school, and the school was also encouraging girls’ enrolment due to non-availability of girls’ school in the vicinity.

“The United States is pleased to be the largest, single-country contributor to [the] UNHCR,” she said, adding that the US government had been working with the UNHCR to support the projects that enhanced educational opportunities for Afghan and Pakistani children, strengthen cultural ties, and built a shared future between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The UNHCR representatives informed Jackson that it had obtained approval from the Federal Directorate of Education, Islamabad, for construction of extra classrooms in the school, while the design of building had already been devised, and the consultant had been identified through call-of-interest to monitor the progress of construction.