New DFID Country Head on ground at the
Kinnaird Girls School in Lahore.
22nd December 2015
In a practical demonstration of the importance of a "hands on leadership role" in the successful delivery of Pakistan's trailblazing Humqadam School Construction and Rehabilitation Programme (SCRP), DFID-Pakistan‘s new Country Head Ms. Joanna Reid, paid a quick visit to Lahore to see for herself the work in progress at the Kinnaird Girls School- one of the dangerous building sites in the city. Of 3,500 girl students on campus, 850 girls continue attending classes in an inadequate number of classrooms.
“The School Administration is delighted at the accelerated pace of the work and is happy to see the new and improved educational infrastructure emerging."
She, along with Barbara Payne, DFID’s Senior Education Advisor and Omar Mukhtar, DFID’s Governance Adviser were accompanied by Deputy Team Leader Humqadam SCRP, Isfundiar Kasuri, on their tour of the construction site. Ms. Reid also interacted with Dr. Rizwana, the School Principal. She informed the DFID Country Head that Humqadam was doing a thorough job on site. She remarked, “The School Administration is delighted at the accelerated pace of the work and is happy to see the new and improved educational infrastructure emerging.” The School Principal, Community Committee for School Infrastructure (CCSI) members and Humqadam School Support Team (SST) took Ms. Reid around the construction site and highlighted the applications of the various innovative techniques that are a hallmark of Humqadam’s construction philosophy. As a gesture of appreciation for Ms. Reid’s first field visit to a school, members of the CCSI presented her with a Kinnaird School Mug, which she received with a sense of optimism and gratitude.
Humqadam’s scope of work on site includes the construction of 22 classrooms, 11 toilets (including one for children with disabilities) and other infrastructure improvements, at an estimated cost of Rs. 26 Million. As many as 850 additional girl children will be positively impacted by this intervention. The school rehabilitation project stands at the midway point, with an estimated completion date falling in March 2016.
Across Punjab, Humqadam’s reach extends to 16 districts, covering 32 Higher Secondary Schools with Dangerous Buildings, in some of the remotest and poorest regions of the province. While there are an estimated 1000 dangerous school buildings in Punjab, Humqadam’s aim is to provide a sustainable blueprint and minimum design standard for building safe, secure and improved educational environments.