Canadian High Commissioner inaugurated a new school building at Aga Khan School Shuist upper Chitral
Chitral Times Report
UPPER CHITRAL: The Canadian High Commissioner for Pakistan, Her Excellency Ms. Wendy Gilmour, inaugurated a new school building at the Aga Khan School, Shuist in Upper Chitral. Shuist is a remote village 10 to 12-hour drive from Chitral town.Ms. Gilmour was accompanied by the CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation – Pakistan, Mr. Akhtar Iqbal, and the regional leadership of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan.
The guests were welcomed at the school by the students and teachers of Aga Khan School, Shuist, the Aga Khan Education Service, Pakistan’s General Manager for Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, Brigadier (retd.) Khush Muhammad Khan, and the regional leadership of Upper Chitral. Ms. Gilmour inaugurated the recently constructed school building which has greatly improved the facilities and increased capacity at Aga Khan School, Shuist.
After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the guests attended a brief presentation on AKES,P’s efforts in increasing access to education in the Chitral region. Representatives of the Ismaili Council, School Support Committee, and Local Support Organisation were also present. The President of the Local Council Yarkhun Lasht, Mr. Siyar Ahmad, and others thanked Ms. Gilmour for the visit.The High Commissioner presented a book for the school library and spoke about the Canadian government’s engagement with the Aga Khan Development Network, expressing satisfaction with progress in different fields. Aga Khan School, Shuist was established in 1992, the first school to be built in the village.
It was upgraded to a middle school in 2016 and to a high school in 2018, providing continuity of education till matriculation to the children to Shuist. Recently, 6 additional classrooms, science and computer laboratories, a library, staffroom and washrooms were added to the school campus. In addition, in 2019, faculty housing was constructed near the school to provide accommodation for out-of-station teachers. Aga Khan School, Shuist has an enrollment of around 400 students. Plans are underway to upgrade the school to a higher secondary from this year onward.
