Islamabad, August 31, 2021 (PPI-OT):Tomorrow, Prime Minister Imran Khan will launch the Ehsaas Education Stipends programme for deserving households to send their children for primary, secondary and higher secondary education. The programme will be rolled out nationwide across all districts. The programme has been structured along the lines of Ehsaas’ Stipend policy that incentivizes higher stipend amount for girls as compared to boys. Under the Ehsaas Education Stipends, primary school boys will get quarterly stipends of Rs. 1,500 and girls Rs. 2,000; secondary school boys will get Rs. 2,500 and girls Rs. 3,000; and at higher secondary level, boys will get Rs. 3,500 and girls Rs. 4,000 a quarter.
All education stipends will be paid biometrically to mothers on attainment of 70% attendance of their children. According to Dr. Sania Nishtar’s official statement, “Ehsaas is committed to lift the poorest families in Pakistan out of poverty and help them achieve their potential by serving the unserved area of secondary and higher secondary education. Also, part of ‘Post-COVID-Ehsaas Strategy’, Ehsaas Education Stipends will empower the deserving families to overcome financial barriers in accessing higher education. Safeguarding, that girls are not underrepresented in higher education, the Ehsaas Education Stipends is fully skewed towards girls, offering higher stipend amounts for them.”
Poverty is one of the most persistent barriers to acquiring education. Presently, there are 18.7 million children in the age group 6 to 16 who remain out of school in the country and the fall out of COVID-19 has also accentuated it. The ‘Demographic and Health Survey 2017’ (Kaplan and Meier estimates) indicates that dropout rate is highest for the poorest two quintiles in secondary education.
Further, the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (1990-2018) featuring enrolment trends for both boys and girls in primary and secondary education reveals that girls are severely disadvantaged in initial enrolment levels for poorest quantile, and they drop out faster from grades 5-8. Education CCTs are an important pillar of Ehsaas and are included in the Ehsaas framework as Policy #73 ‘Education Conditional Cash Transfers.
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