‘Fuel cost could spur dropout rate’

Expressing concern regarding the 2.2 million out of school children in the province, the majority being girls, experts have stressed the implementation of the Free and Compulsory Education Act and girls’ right to secondary education in Punjab. These thoughts were expressed in a consultation session on the Implementation of Free & Compulsory Primary Education Act and Girls’ Right to Secondary Education, organised by the Awaz Centre for Development Studies and the National Commission for Human Rights. The major focus of the session was to emphasise necessary initiatives to ensure the primary education of children and to reduce the dropout rate of girls from secondary schools, in order to guarantee economic and social stability through an educated population.  Awaz CDS Chief Executive Mohammad Ziaur Rehman, National Commission for Human Rights Commissioner Nadeem Ashraf, School Education Department Director Ghulam Farid, MPA Uswa Aftab, Ayesha Iqbal and other academics and NGO members attended the consultation. In his opening remarks, Ziaur Rahman highlighted the significance of girls’ quality secondary education and explained the grey areas in the way of girls’ education in Punjab. He urged the Punjab government to immediately notify the already approved Punjab Free and Compulsory Education Act 2014. He stressed the need for an increase in education budget, as development allocations are only being made to the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) and Punjab Education Initiative Management Authority (PEIMA). He warned that the fuel price hike is causing girls to leave schools, particularly after summer vacations. The commissioner of the National Commission for Human Rights discussed the bottlenecks and challenges in implementing the free and compulsory education act and ensuring girls’ basic right to education for moving the nation towards stability. MPA Ayesha Iqbal stressed that Governor Balighur Rehman should get the education act notified without delay. MPA Uswa Aftab stressed the importance of ensuring that every child is getting basic education and the country is progressing towards achieving the SDGs. Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2022.

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