PESHAWAR
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) has officially become the first province in the country to teach STEAM courses in schools starting with Peshawar’s Government Higher Secondary School Mathra. The province’s Department of Education has partnered with Future Pakistan to empower more than 4 million government school students with several skill-based courses from primary to higher secondary levels.
“We are very proud and excited that Future Pakistan is playing a crucial role alongside the provincial government in developing the progressive future of the children of KPK,” said Omar Farooqui, Founder, and Chairman of Future Pakistan. Farooqui said that Future Pakistan had received a mandate from the KPK Education Ministry to provide STEM education and health support to children studying in government schools across the province.
Farooqui also lauded KPK Education Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai’s commitment to education. “We are grateful to Minister Tarkai, who supported us and gave us huge responsibility. Without his guidance and the Education Department’s support, this endeavor would not have been possible,” he said. Farooqui said that Minister Tarkai is very committed to the cause of empowerment of KPK children with 21st-century skills and education.
“We will provide three short courses on different technology skills to students every year for five years across the province. We started our first school in Peshawar and will be adding schools organically. A Hackathon will be organized every year to showcase the local talent and skills these children have acquired over a year. It will be a gradual learning process,” he said. According to him, the idea is to produce the best technology brains not just for Pakistan but also for the world, making KPK the breeding ground of tech talent in South Asia and beyond.
Farooqui also said that students and their families would also be provided regular health checkups and medical support from the next month. “We believe that a hungry and sick child and family cannot learn anything no matter how much effort we make. A good education has to be complemented with good health support. Hence Future Pakistan wants to make sure that every child and family benefits from this scheme,” said Farooqui.
Mohammed Arsalan, a grade 8 student at the Government High School in Mathra Peshwar, was very excited to attend the first class. “My father is a carpenter. I want to become a software engineer and help my father and his business grow globally. I never thought that I would start learning these courses from my school. This is very exciting. I am very thankful to my school for making my dream. Students like me can acquire the knowledge and skills to build our future and fulfill our ambitions,” 13-year-old Arsalan said.
