Lagging behind: Activists question why K-P is the last to enact Right to Education

Govt says education is an utmost priority and can be used to fight terrorism.

PESHAWAR: The provincial government needs to enact the Right to Education (RTE) law to ensure a better future for children, social activists said on Tuesday during a briefing for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly Standing Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education.

“If K-P was the first province to work on the Right to Education Bill, why is it the last to enact it?” asked Pakistan Coalition for Education National Coordinator Zehra Arshad.

While Sindh and Balochistan have enacted Right to Education bills, the government of K-P is still in the process of drafting one, speakers said.

The briefing was attended by a number of committee members. Centre for Governance and Public Accountability member Malik Masood presented alarming statistics highlighting the disparity between the allocation of funds for education and the ground results in K-P.

Mohammad Arif, chairperson for the standing committee, assured those in attendance that the government was working towards enacting the draft bill. He said authorities were focusing on governance as well as increasing access and improving the quality of education.

“Education is of utmost importance and we can use it to fight militancy, ignorance and illiteracy,” stated Zareen Riaz, an MPA and member of the committee. He pointed to the recent enrolment campaign to bring children back to schools as an indication of the K-P government’s commitment to education.

The province has a literacy rate of only 52%, well below the national average. It is further estimated that female literacy is far worse. For example, only 21% of women in DI Khan are literate, while millions of children are out of school across the province.

The Pakistan Coalition for Education has been working on education policy reforms since 2005 and has over 200 members in 65 districts of Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2014.