Commitments renewed to improve state of girls education

PESHAWAR: The participants of a roundtable discussion have reiterated the commitments to improve the state of girls education in the province by strengthening efficient and equitable budget allocation to promote a safe and enabling environment at the educational institutions.

The Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in collaboration with Blue Veins, a local non-governmental organization working to promote girls’ secondary education, had organized a roundtable discussion with members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in celebration of National Women Day of Pakistan.

The event was attended by KP Assembly Deputy Speaker Mehmood Khan, Minister for Human Rights and Labour Shaukat Yousafzai, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Revenue and Estate Taj Mohammad, other members of KP Assembly, officials from the Elementary and Secondary Education Department, Child Protection and Welfare Commission and Women Commission on the Status of Women.

“Recommendation Paper to improve Girls Secondary Education” was also launched during the consultation.It was handed over to Education Department by Shaukat Yousafzai, Taj Mohammad, MPA Ziaullah Bangash and Madiha Nisar Vice-President of the caucus.

Shaukat Yousafzai said: “Despite the progress, women and girls continue to face multiple challenges in achieving gender equality in all fields, including education.He added that the KP government is committed to addressing all socio-economic and structural barriers and undertaking positive measures to bring about gender equality.

Taj Mohammad said: “Educated girls are a powerful force for building more prosperous, fair and resilient societies based on an “invisible chain” of shared values. The Sustainable Development Goal-4 on quality education for all girls can only be achieved through a much greater collective effort to dismantle the barriers, driven by leaders from all sectors of society.”

MPA Shagufta Malik said: “The recommendation paper by the WPC is a significant document for Elementary and Secondary Education Department, identifying needed actions to ensure support for disadvantaged girls for stay and retention in school.”

Qamar Naseem of Pakistan Education Champions Network and Manager Strategic Engagement & Advocacy of the Blue Veins, said that improved coordination among policymakers, legislators and civil society presents a key opportunity to promote political leadership backed up with resources to translate commitment for improved girls education into action at scale.”

The participants of the consultation agreed that education for girls is about more than access to school. It is also about girls feeling safe in classrooms and supported in the subjects and careers they choose to pursue - including those in which they are often under-represented.