Islamabad:Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif performed the groundbreaking for the Centre of Excellence for Autism at the Rehabilitation Centre for Children with Development Disorders here Friday, promising to mobilise all support and resources for children with disabilities.

The initiative comes amid reports that the country has around 350,000 children with autism spectrum disorder, a neurological and developmental condition affecting social and cognitive development.

The prime minister said the Centre of Excellence for Autism would be established in one year. He said that it was the collective responsibility all Pakistanis to support children with autism. “It is the duty of the government to mobilise all available resources for the nation’s special children and enable them to stand on their own feet as productive members of society,” he said.

The prime minister said the government would establish the best vocational centres, roll out skill-development programmes, provide trained teachers and offer modern instruments, advanced equipment and modern technology to equip those boys and girls.

He announced that the Centre of Excellence for Autism in Islamabad would be provided with 15 buses to transport children to and from the facility, and called upon philanthropists and public institutions, including Pakistan Baitul Maal, to contribute generously to the initiative.

“It is our responsibility and whatever we do for these children will still be too little,” he said. Earlier, the prime minister was briefed on the project and visited departments planned for the centre.

Education Minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui declared the initiative the conversion of national intent into a national institution and expressed confidence that it would advance inclusive education, pledging coordination to meet the revised one-year completion timeline.

Director General (Special Education) Captain (r) Asif Iqbal outlined existing services, noting that around 700 students are currently enrolled at national special education institutions. Students from the National Education Centre for Hearing-Impaired Children presented the national anthem in sign language, while performances by students with disabilities, including a rabab recital by visually impaired student Master Fawad, were warmly received.

Founder of Oasis School Ayesha Haroon shared her experience in developing a non-profit, integrated model for autism support and offered to share lessons with government institutions for nationwide replication.