Sunday March 26, 2017
Kabul (BNA) Accompanied by high ranking officials, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Saturday arrived in northern Balkh and warmly welcomed by Governor Atta Mohammad Noor and other provincial officials, a statement from the Presidential Palace said.
During the trip, the president inaugurated the newly constructed Rauza-e-Mubarak mosque and the Noor Hall in Mazar-e-Sharif as well as rang the school bell to mark the beginning of the new academic year in the province, the statement added. In a ceremony held on this occasion, Balkh governor Atta Mohammad Noor briefed the participant on his achievements in different fields, adding the medical centers has now been increased to 136 that helped decrease the maternal mortality rate in the province. He also said that around 620 thousands of students studying in 680 educational centers.
“Balkh province had only one university with three faculties, but now the number has increased to 23 thousands of students which females constitutes half of them,” Noor added, saying there are 55 percent of women teachers across the province. He also called Balkh as the only province with 75 Km of railroad. The governor promised staying in the province to monitor the performance of his successor, pledging not to let him do anything wrong. Without giving an exact date, Noor said he would resign in the near future. Meanwhile President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Saturday commended the even-handed development of northern Balkh province, attributing the achievement to Governor Atta Mohammad Noor’s leadership. President Ghani gave the governor full credit for his dedicated work to develop the province. ‘Noor had always pleaded with Kabul for the progress of the province, not for personal favours, he said.
At an event marking the start of the new academic year in the provincial capital, the president promised investment in education. He said 6.9 million textbooks would be distributed to schools across the country over the next fortnight.
While stressing on the need for sustainable focus on girls’ education, he likened investment in females to investment in Afghanistan’s future generations. “Afghanistan has once again turned to be the inseparable point of the Central Asia. If militants want to close such ways for Afghanistan, then they should know that we have different ways to be connected,” the president said as quoted in the statement. Pointing to essential role of education in Afghanistan, the president said matters related to education should not be limited to only Ministry of Education, adding ministries of communications, interior and national defense and public health can play vital role on the aspect, the statement added. Thanking the commission for successful commemoration of Nawroz festival, the president said those taking arm against the government and opposing constitution would be suppressed.
