ISLAMABAD: Waseela-e-Taleem (WeT) is part of graduation strategy of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) that aims at poverty eradication, said BISP Chairwoman Marvi Memon on Thursday.
She was speaking at the launch of a hi-tech attendance compliance app during a training workshop for WeT Implementing Partner Firms (IPFs). District coordinators, Tehsil coordinators and data monitoring operators of Aurat Foundation participated in the workshop.
The BISP has hired Aurat Foundation and Mott MacDonald Pakistan as implementing partner firms (IPFs). IPFs will develop a comprehensive operational plan, procure resources, establish BISP Beneficiary Committees (BBCs), support school registration and retention, look after complaints and monitor attendance compliance in 32 districts across the country.
WeT districts have been distributed in three clusters. Aurat Foundation will operate in districts of Punjab whereas the districts of Sindh, Balochistan, AJK, GB and KPK will be covered by Mott MacDonald.
This hi-tech application has been designed by BISP in collaboration with Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) for continuous monitoring of attendance compliance in schools by WeT children. The app is supplemented with GPS that will update the attendance status online making the attendance compliance easy and transparent for BISP.
Marvi said that mandate of these firms is to socially mobilise, extend and strengthen BISP beneficiary committees created in the past to empower women by spreading awareness on education, nutrition, family values, women’s rights in Islam, numeracy, livelihood and skills.
WeT was launched in October 2012 in five districts with the aim to ensure universal primary education by enrolling the children of most under privileged families. The programme was extended to 32 districts in 2015. WeT initiative has enrolled 1.3 million children, carried out supply capacity assessment of 55,000 public and private schools, constituted 50,000 BBCs and disbursed Rs 3 billion as conditional cash transfer. Every child enrolled under WeT gets Rs 750 per quarter on 70 percent attendance compliance.
