ISLAMABAD, Jul 26: The Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) has enrolled eight million children and disbursed Rs 40 billion among them under the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif Program, according to information available with WealthPK.

Benazir Taleemi Wazaif programme was initiated in 2012 with an objective of enhancing school enrolment and reducing dropout rate of the children of BISP beneficiaries through conditional cash incentives. The program is also aimed at creating awareness amongst beneficiary families on importance of education, increasing enrolment rates and reducing the dropout rate by ensuring the retention.

The program enrolls the children of Benazir Kafalat beneficiary family, aged between 04-22 years, from Primary to Grade 12 level. The program includes quarterly disbursement of Rs. 1500 for primary, Rs. 2500 for secondary and Rs. 3500 for higher secondary to a boy child. It also involves quarterly disbursement of Rs. 2000 for primary, Rs. 3000 for secondary and Rs. 4000 for higher secondary to a girl child.

The program provides higher stipend for girl children, with a one-time graduation bonus of Rs. 3000 for each on completion of primary education. The cash transfer is linked with a school attendance rate of 70 percent. The biometric based payment mechanism is in place while the stipend is paid through the mother of enrolled children.

The future target is to enroll three million additional children during financial year 2022-23 through the allocation of Rs. 35 billion, according to the documents.

The available information revealed that the initiative has helped increase the proportion of children currently enrolled in schools by 13 percent for boys and 15 percent for girls. The school enrollment rates in BISP households are significantly higher for those supported by the CCT (81 percent) as compared to those who are not (60 percent). The average attendance rate for both boys and girls is significantly above the minimum required (70 percent). On average, the attendance rate of boys is 83 percent and girls 81 percent.

Credits: INP-WealthPk