The Girls' Stipend Programme aims to improve girls' access to and retention in schools, especially at the higher grades where drop-out rates are high, through the provision of income support to the families of adolescent girls. Over three years of the programme some 30,000 girls in grades 6 -12 in more than 500 government girls' middle and higher schools will receive PKR 1000 per month. This 3-year programme covering all seven districts and sub-divisions in the merged districts is costed at US$ 4.4 million, averaging US$ 1.1 million per year.
The Secretary of Education at the official launch of the programme said, "This intervention lays the foundation stone for our future, especially for under-privileged adolescent girls in MDs. In today's society, access to quality education is imperative for our successful future". He added that the Government of KP prioritizes the access to education enrolment for all out-of-school children.
Currently, there are over 1 million children aged 5 to 16 years who are not enrolled in schools in the MDs. A staggering 67 percent of the population in MDs is unable to read or write.
WFP Pakistan's Representative and Country Director, Coco Ushiyama, highlighted the importance of education, "The profound impact of educating girls is encapsulated in the proverb - educate a girl and you educate a nation. When women and girls are empowered with better access to education, information, resources, services and economic opportunities, the ripple effects are far-reaching".
The Girls' Stipend Programme builds on a decades-long partnership between the Department of Education, KP and WFP. Most recently in 2021, WFP in support of the Government's COVID-19 response piloted a Stipend Programme in the merged districts reaching some 21,000 girls in 280 schools. An impact assessment of the pilot found a significant 14 percent increase in enrollment, and a 96 percent improvement in attendance rates.
The Adolescent Girls Programme will be implemented under the overall supervision of E&SED, with WFP's technical support in cash-based transfer operations, data collection, profiling and skill enhancement for the Education Department staff involved in the education programme.
Today's event is part of a series of school-based interventions by WFP Pakistan to advance human capital development. School-based programmes are one of the most extensive social safety nets worldwide, which can help maximize the return on investment in education, because it facilitates access to school and improves the nutritional status, health and cognitive development of children.
