On January 6th, 2018, the Sindh Education Foundation (SEF), Government of Sindh celebrated its Silver Jubilee with the theme “Hope on; Journey on” depicting the Foundation’s voyage over the last twenty-five years. The Program witnessed the participation from luminaries from various walks of life, including; Members from National and Provincial Assemblies, bureaucracy, academia, members from civil society & Donor Agencies. The Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah was the Chief guest of the evening and Mr. Jam Mahtab Dahar, Minister for Education & Literacy Sindh was the host of the evening.
The Program started with the National Anthem that was sung by Students’ choir followed by a welcoming address by Ms. Naheed Shah Durrani, Managing Director SEF. She in her address reaffirmed to strengthen education outcomes in accordance with Government of Sindh’s vision.
Further the journey of SEF was screened through SEF’s documentary. The SEF School Partners spoke on the occasion about their journey in the next session especially the efforts taken in last many years for the provision of quality education. Each of the initial, middle and modern eras of the Foundation’s struggle was represented by a Partner who shared his journey with the audience.
Following the Partners’ talk, the groundbreaking launch of the Foundation’s android based e-learning software INSTAL (Introducing Smart Teaching and Learning) took place. The initiative was launched by the honorable Chief Minister. INSTAL envisions deployment of software at school level through the provision of 21,000 tablet computers at 700 SEF supported schools (@30 tablets per school). The event also marked the launch of Biography of Prof. Anita Ghulam Ali who was the Founder of SEF and served the Foundation for 22 years.
Speaking on the occasion Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Minister Sindh commended SEF’s role for strengthening the cause of quality education among the marginalized strata through building sustainable partnerships with the private sector in the province. Further; he expressed that in coming days the Foundation is expected to play a robust role in post primary education. It is envisaged that the Foundation would have at least 1000 post primary schools providing quality education across the province especially in remote areas in coming few years. He reaffirmed his Government’s commitment to overcome all impediments and improve access as well as quality of education across the province.
Mr. Jam Mahtab Dahar, Minister for Education & Literacy Sindh, expressed his appreciation and congratulated the Foundation on completing 25 years of its Journey. Counting on the strength of the Foundation, he added, the government is giving viable closed schools in Thatta, Badin, Jamshoro, Sujjawal and Dadu to SEF for functionalizing these through Public Private Partnerships.
The Program concluded with a lively performance by the children on the theme of “Heal the World”.