ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The World Food Programme (WFP) would start first time monthly cash disbursement among the 13,000 students of Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) from September 2017.
The Spokesperson of WFP Mahira Afzal told the state-run news agency in Islamabad on Friday, she said that this programme was launched its first cash-assistance for secondary school girls programme in Pakistan while issuing biometrics attendance data part of its support to the FATA Secretariat’s education programme.
About 13,000 girls in 140 middle and high schools in seven agencies of FATA and the Frontier Regions would be the part in the innovative programme.
Mahira said that girls who attend at least 80 percent of classes each month will receive a stipend of Rs 1,000.
Before each monthly cash disbursement, students and their mothers will undergo an awareness session on nutrition and general health and hygiene within the family.
The government chose to use biometrics to ensure that the girls attending classes are the same ones receiving the stipend at the end of the month.
Moreover, it will also free up teachers from manual record keeping. The machines recording girls’ fingerprints are solar powered with a battery which is securely stored in the classroom.
“We are proud to support the FATA Secretariat whose education agenda recognizes the importance of girls’ education in society,” she said.
“This programme will encourage girls to continue their study to secondary level and help keep them in school. This is key to the development of the region.”
The WFP has been providing education support in FATA since 2008 and has assisted nearly 300,000 students in 1,700 government primary and secondary schools in partnership with UNICEF and UNESCO.
Moreover, The WFP has established a feedback mechanism at each school to involve the local community in monitoring the schools which are receiving assistance under the programme, a standard practice for WFP-initiated projects.
