The
“Malala Schools†are planned for 16 areas around Pakistan affected by
conflict or natural disasters, Nafisa Shah, chairwoman of the National
Commission for Human Development, told AFP. The aim is to give children
in these areas, who often have little in the way of educational
opportunities, a chance to go to school, Shah said, but added that money
for the scheme had not yet been found. “We have identified the places
and (will) soon launch a fundraising scheme to generate finances for
these schools,†Shah said.
Each school will have two classrooms, a
verandah, a toilet and space to extend the building if needed. It will
cost 800,000 rupees ($8,220) and provide basic education to both girls
and boys. The Pakistani government has announced a plan to pay poor
families to send their children to school and UN education envoy Gordon
Brown held talks in Islamabad at the weekend to begin a plan to bring
more than five million out-of-school youngsters into the classroom.
Taliban hitmen shot Malala on her school bus a month ago in Mingora in
Pakistan’s northwestern Swat Valley in a cold-blooded murder attempt for
the “crime†of campaigning for girls’ rights to go to school.
Miraculously the 15-year-old survived and her courage has won the hearts
of millions around the world, prompting the United Nations to declare
last Saturday a “global day of action†for her.
HA/IINA