SWABI     -      First lady Begum Samina Arif Alvi here on Wednesday said that education of females and bringing out-of-school children under the education net was imperative for speedy economic development and prosperity of the country.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the teachers’ training centre at Rashid Memorial Welfare Organisation (RMWO) Alamabad here, Begum Samina Alvi said educated mothers guaranteed the education of their children, building their careers and prosperous society.

Besides female education, she said bringing out-of-school children under education-net was a big challenge and the private sector role was equally important to enrol such children in their educational institutions.

She said solid efforts were being made to enrol all such children in public sector schools and take full advantage of their potential besides making them useful citizens of society.

Bringing out-of-school children under the education net would not only bring significant improvement in their own lives but also help their families on social and economic fronts besides significantly contributing to the country’s development process.

The First Lay said countries achieve heights of economic and financial prosperity with educational empowerment of all citizens including male and female through dedicated professional teachers rather than the construction of buildings. She urged teachers to also focus on character building and career counselling of students, saying respect for teachers was also equally important for a learned and knowledgeable society.

Samina Arif Alvi said that lack of education creates socioeconomic imbalances including poverty and illiteracy and that a lot of effort was required to improve the literacy ratio in the country. She said that she was pleased to see a large number of girls getting quality education here and praised their families for their continued support and assistance to them.

Besides education, she said economic and financial empowerment of women and imparting vocational skills was a must for achieving the desired economic goals. She praised RMWO for providing quality education and healthcare services to the people of far-flung areas of KP.

Begum Samina Alvi underscored the need for the proactive role of the private sector in spreading education and providing better healthcare services to people in far-flung and remote areas of the country including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

She urged RMWO to extend their services to far-flung and remote rural areas for people’s benefit. She also urged the local community of Swabi district to help RMWO for the sake of people’s welfare.

Samina Alvi said Pakistan had been created after a lot of sacrifices by the Muslims of the subcontinent and it was our collective responsibility to work hard for its progress and prosperity. She said Pakistan had given us everything and it was time to work with full dedication and commitment in our respective fields to make it economically stronger and prosperous.