In order to transform them into useful and productive human resources, President Dr. Arif Alvi remarked on Wednesday that enrolling street children and the more than 20 million youngsters who are not in school in formal education programmes is of utmost significance.
At Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president was speaking to representatives of Muslim Hands and the Under-16 Street Children squad that will represent Pakistan at the Street Children World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
The president praised Muslim Hands’ programme for assisting underprivileged children by offering them access to healthy and positive activities, adequate training, education, social and communication skills, confidence, and the chance to play in international football competitions.
He praised the team’s accomplishments while stating that similar actions needed to be made to promote other sports like hockey and kabaddi.
Despite the government’s efforts to get disadvantaged kids involved in healthful activities, he said that these efforts still needed the help of the commercial sector, nongovernmental organisations, and civil society.
He underlined the need of giving underprivileged children with the education, training, and skills they need in order to fulfil their full potential.
The president gave Pakistan Sports Board the recommendation to involve street children in sports to develop their character and confidence and to provide them the training necessary to become elite athletes.
He claimed that Pakistan was a sport-loving country where football was equally loved everywhere.
He stressed how encouraging youngsters to participate in sports might aid them in managing stress and living a healthy lifestyle.
He claimed that young people made up 60% of the population of the nation and that they needed access to the most recent IT skills and technologies.
The president also urged the Pakistan Football Federation to put aside their minor disagreements and intra-federation rivalries and concentrate on the growth of the sport, starting at the grassroots level and involving as many young players as possible from all over the nation, especially the underprivileged kids.
He said that it would benefit the nation in creating a sports environment that would eventually generate athletes of the highest calibre.
Raja Arsalan Nusrat, Director of Muslims Hands, UK Chapter, earlier informed the president that more than 1000 children were participating in sports activities in more than 15 communities in Pakistan under the theme “Child’s Right to Play.”
He informed them that a street children’s football squad will compete in the World Cup for street children, which would be hosted in Doha, Qatar.
The squad captain received the National Flag from the president as well.
