MINGORA: Speakers at a ceremony here on Thursday highlight importance of pre-primary education and said that 60 per cent children in the country did not receive any such education.

The ceremony was held to open Parwaan pre-school centres in Swat district. A large number of people from different walks of life attended the event that was chaired by Parwaan president Mehnaz Aziz.

The speakers said that the first three to five years were crucial for brain development of children. They said that unfortunatelyeducational and developmentalneeds of children below the age of five were not addressed in the country.

`Under Article 25-A of Constitution, state is responsible for education of children from five to 16 years but children bellow five are ignored. So five years ago, federal government with the help of Children Global Network-Pakistan formed Parwaan National Centre of Excellence, which initiated an innovative social entrepreneurship model for early childhood development (ECD) throughout the country, said Ms Aziz.

She said that after its success, the programme was extended to 15 more districts including Swat under which 500 educated youth would be trained to open pre-primary schools.

`Over 10,000 children bellow the age of five years will be imparted education at 15 centres,` said Ms Aziz.

Azra Nafees Yousafzai, head of Hacem Fund, said that her organisation would sponsor six ECD centres in Swat.

Mohammad Akbar, the district coordinator of Parwaan, said that 25 centres would be established in Swat in the first phase. The number would be increased to 50, he added.

`The ECD centres will not only provide facility of education to the children bellow the age of five near their houses but will also create employment opportunities for educated youth,` he said.

ACCIDENT: Two persons were killed and 25 others received injuries when a passenger van plunged into a roadside ditch in Shingrai village of Manglawar area on Thursday.

Police said that the van was going from Shingrai to Manglawar. The vehicle plunged into the ditch after its brakes failed, they said, adding that two passengers were killed and 25 others received injuries.

The deceased were identified as Ali Bahadar and Quraish, residents of Zarrey village. The injured were shifted to Saidu Teaching Hospital for treatment.