KARACHI: The Thar Foundation and ABB Power & Automation (Pvt) Limited have signed an agreement to support the cause of education in Thar. Under the ambit of the agreement ABB Pakistan will provide financial assistance to educate 30 students from Tharparkar for the academic year 2018-19.
Through this partnership, ABB Pakistan will bear expenses of 30 Thari students from the district where Thar Foundation has established 24 school units in the vicinity of Islamkot district and radius of Thar Coal Block II. Shamsuddin A. Shaikh, CEO, Thar Foundation with Najeeb Ahmed, CEO, ABB Pakistan, signed the agreement in presence of other officials from both the organizations.
Praising the Thari talent, Shamsuddin A. Shaikh, CEO, Thar Foundation asserted, “Tharparkar is ranked 109th on the Human Development Index out of the 114 reported districts of Pakistan. This is equally true for the education sector where it ranks lowest on learning, retention and gender parity; however, this is not because the children or youth in Thar are not talented but because they do not have access to a functional schooling experience. We, at Thar Foundation’s platform are working to provide quality education to the Thari children by establishing primary and post-primary schools in the region, therefore, welcome other companies and organizations to come and join hands with us in this noble cause.”
Foregrounding ABB Pakistan’s philosophy behind the move, Mr. Najeeb Ahmed said, “Sustainability for ABB is about balancing economic success, environmental stewardship and social progress to benefit all our stakeholders. As a responsible corporate citizen ABB has a special social commitment which we take very seriously. We know that part of being a successful and sustainable business is fulfilling our social responsibilities, making our company more responsive, more flexible and more open to society’s expectations”
Thar Foundation together with a firm focus to implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is heralding a change in the education setup in Islamkot and Thar. Together with its partners, Thar Foundation remains committed to its motto of providing every child access to quality education in Thar and plans to enroll almost 5000 students in a functional schooling system by end of 2018. News Desk
