ABU DHABI // Sixty educational projects worth US$41.5 million (Dh152m) are being launched in Pakistan following a directive by the President of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa.
The UAE is supporting the sponsorship of 53 projects in the first phase to aid 30,000 students.
Forty-three primary and secondary schools and 10 technical colleges were built under the UAE Project to Assist Pakistan (UAEPAP).
The second phase, which costs US$14.4m, is being carried out to build and upgrade three colleges and four new women’s rehabilitation centres.
The UAE-funded projects are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, South Waziristan and Bajaur, where students had lost their schools.
The aim is to build, maintain and restore schools, colleges and academic institutions and help students to earn academic units and obtain training.
The Swat-based Women Vocational Training and Rehabilitation Centre was set up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at a cost of US$481,649.
The other schools include Bajaur College of Technology, Jahanzeb Post Graduate Degree College, Warsak College, Wana College, Spinkai Raghzai College and Wadudia Model School.
Last week, UAEPAP reported the first model school in South Waziristan was completed at a cost of US$500,000 (Dh1.83 million).
About 150 students will be taught in the two-storey school in Wana.
South Waziristan was chosen because of the lack of education and other basic infrastructure, such as roads and transport, the management said.
Sheikh Khalifa’s other initiatives in the area include projects in health, education, transport and water.
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