By: Staff Report
KARACHI: Speakers at a seminar ‘Malala Day-Women, Education and Terrorism’ demanded the government to ensure fear free atmosphere for girls education in the country to fulfil the dream of young Pakistani education activist, Malala Yousafzai.
Journalists, civil society activists and political workers attended the event organised by South Asia Women in Media and South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) at Karachi Press Club.
Speaking at the seminar, Senior Minister for Education Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said that characters like Malala Yousafzai, Shazia Khalid, Mukhtaran Mai and others, who stood against tyranny and injustices, must be remembered and followed as torchbearers for the betterment of the society.
Khuhro praised the bravery and her firmness for the cause of girls’ education and appealed the civil society to come forward to identify the demerits of the education system.
He said that at least 150,000 teachers are working in public sector schools in Sindh, but hundreds of schools are closed and education system is deteriorating day by day. He said that the previous Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) provincial government passed a legislation declaring free education a compulsory right for every child from class one till 12 in Sindh.
He attributed the social inequalities, which forced the parent to stop sending their children to schools, increasing the ratio of dropout.
He added that delay in justice system is also increasing frustration among the people, who turn to ‘Jirgas’ for resolving their problems on a local level.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MNA Kishwar Zehra, Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) MPA Mehtab Akbar Rashdi and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Dr Seemi Zia also attended the event and paid tribute to young Malala for her courage and bravery against Taliban.
Famous poetess Fahmida Riaz recited her poetry, in which she condemned the role of feudal lords, who are a hurdle in the way of girls’ education.
Zubaida Mustafa, senior journalist and social activist while giving her views, shared UNESCO data, which reveals Pakistan is far behind in girls’ education.
She said that Pakistan is second from the bottom followed by Nigeria with highest number of children out of school, a majority of whom are girls.
Senior journalist and SAFMA leader Dr Jabbar Khattak, Khurshid Hyder and others also spoke on the occasion.
