Malala Day: Calls for declaration of education emergency
With an eye on the dismal statistics on education in Pakistan, the government on Saturday was urged to impose an ‘education emergency’.
While addressing participants at Malala Action Day, marking the UN backed Malala Day on November 10, South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) Secretary General Imtiaz Alam said all the political parties should consider the appalling state of education in the country.
The event was held at the National Press Club and had been organised by South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) to promote “Education for all, peace for all”.
“An All Parties Conference should be called to discuss challenges that are being faced by our education sector and to find ways to overcome them so we can achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2015,” said Alam.
Harris Khalique, a well-known poet and columnist, said, “It is time for the Pakistani state and society to introspect.”
He added, “As the world celebrates Malala Day, we must think why such days including International Mother Tongue Day are celebrated when the actions of our state and society encourage intolerance and legitimise oppression by either the establishment or extremist outfits.”
MNA Bushra Gohar said there is a need to separate politics from religion, while adding that neither should be used for self-interest or criminal activities.
Higher Education Commission (HEC) Project Director Wasim Hashmi Syed said there has been an increase in the female enrolment rate but a lot is needed to be done.
“Currently 90 million people aged 18 to 30 need to be registered for tertiary education, but we only have capacity for 900,000. We have asked the government for help several times, but there has been no progress to date,” he said.
Earlier, children from different Rawalpindi schools gave speeches paying tribute to Malala. They highlighted the importance of education and committed to take Malala’s message to every household in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2012.
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Decentralization of education system under 18th Amendment has wrecked the education particularly the higher education in the country. Our country needs a unified policy of education which should be endorsed by all the provinces of Pakistan.