ISLAMABAD  -  Stakeholders have said that with the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, Paki­stan can no longer neglect the ed­ucation emergency as the whole nation had to bear a heavy price of neglecting this important sector in the past.

On the occasion of the 14th an­nual convention held by the Pa­kistan Coalition for Education, an initiative of the Society for Ac­cess to Quality Education (SAQE), civil society organizations, youth groups and senior members of the academia came together to launch the “Charter of Education.”

The “Charter of Education” de­veloped under the slogan of “Vote for Safe Education” urged the po­litical parties to develop a joint Charter of Education at their end on the same lines as they had de­veloped the Charter of Democracy. Such a charter should uphold the promise and enactment of Article 25-A and SDG-4 agenda for equita­ble education for all children.

In her remarks, Zehra Arshad, the Executive Director of SAQE and the National Coordinator of PCE said, “With an estimated 25 to 28 million children currently out of school in Pakistan, we, as a nation no longer have the luxury to treat education with indifference and neglect that consequent govern­ments have meted out in the past.”

She said the political parties must come together to ensure a strong consensus on a common agenda for access to equitable ed­ucation for all across Pakistan.

According to Associate Profes­sor at PIDE Dr. Jehangir Khan, the three key issues plaguing Pa­kistan’s education system right now include a colossally high number of out-of-school chil­dren, an underutilized youth bulge and alarmingly high learn­ing poverty.

“Owing to limited opportunities, bullying and harassment, the liter­acy rate among transgender peo­ple in Pakistan is merely 19%,” shared Nayab Ali, a transgender rights activist and the Executive Director of Transgender Rights Consultants Pakistan.

Adding to this, Itefaq Khaliq Khan, Senior Program Manager at Sightsavers shared, “More than 90% of all children living with dis­abilities in Pakistan have no access to education.”

The political parties should also provide tangible pledges in their manifestoes with short, medium and long-term plans to improve the access and quality of educa­tion, especially for traditionally marginalized groups such as girls, children with disabilities, eth­nic and religious minorities and transgender students.

The participants also called for immediate measures to divert suf­ficient disaster aid towards edu­cation as well as providing con­ditional cash transfers to the affected households to facilitate the education of their children. 

“This will only be possible by enhancing public investment in education and mobilising the col­lective strength of multiple stake­holders to build back better,” said Rahat Rizwan, education Coordi­nator at IRC UK. Apart from the Ministry and Departments of Ed­ucation, the other ministries, such as the Ministry of Climate Change should also be taken onboard to create an education system that is truly shock resilient. Similar­ly, donors and other bilateral in­ternational actors must also join this effort to ensure that it is suf­ficiently supplemented through technical and financial support.

“Post-pandemic learning pov­erty stands at 75% in Pakistan,” shared Izzah Farrukh, Senior Ed­ucation Specialist at the World Bank saying the importance of political and parliamentary over­sight is paramount to ensuring swift progress against the coun­try’s dismal education indicators.

The Charter demands making educational institutes safe. “Ex­isting laws should be implement­ed to protect students from all forms of harm, including sexu­al violence at the hands of their peers and those in positions of power in their institutes. Those found guilty should be strongly apprehended,” the Charter read.

Enhancing the delivery of edu­cation through teacher training programs, and the replacement of single-classroom, multi-grade schools with a one-teacher-one-classroom approach was also stressed in the “Charter of Educa­tion.” The Charter also demanded a revision of the curriculum to em­phasize critical thinking, techni­cal and vocational education and training (TVET) and 21st-century skills and to promote a culture of lifelong learning, non-violence, di­versity and tolerance.