UAE-funded school opened in Swat, Pakistan

The UAE Project to Assist Pakistan, has opened a new preparatory school in Kalam village, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, as part of the UAE\'s efforts to boost educational development in the province under directives and initiatives by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The new Haryati School in Kalam village will serve 225 male and female students from primary and preparatory stages. The two-storey building of the school consists of eight class rooms, a computer lab and administration facilities. The Director General of the UAE Project to Assist Pakistan, Abdullah Al Ghafli, and Major General Akhtar Jamil, Commander of the GOC 45th Engineers Division, Pakistan Army, unveiled a plaque inaugurating the new school. Pakistan Army officers and senior government officials attended the ceremony. \"Thanks to the initiatives by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to boost education in Pakistan, students now have are able to receive education at all stages, from primary to high school, and can even pursue post-high school education at specialised colleges. This is the most important aspect of the development of individuals, families and the society at large so as to join the peoples of developed nations,\" Al Ghafli said in remarks at the ceremony. \"In Pakistan, a total of 53 educational projects worth AED27,6 million have been carried out by the UAE Project to Assist Pakistan. The institutes include primary, high schools and degree colleges as well as vocational training institutes,\" he added. All the said schools feature fully equipped computer labs for students. Al Ghafli, at the ceremony, also handed over school bags to the students of the new school. This is part of a plan by the UAE Project to Assist Pakistan to distribute thirty thousand schools bags to poor and orphaned Pakistani male and female school students. For his part, the principal of the new school in Kalam village said these projects give hope to male and female students from remote Pakistani areas who aspire to receive education in modern schools and to secure a better future for themselves and their families. Families of the students expressed thanked the UAE under the leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for backing education in their country with modern schools.