PESHAWAR:Women Parliamentary Caucus (WPC) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in collaboration with Blue Veins, a local non-governmental organization organized a roundtable discussion on Girls’ education with members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in celebration of National Women Day of Pakistan.
The event was well-attended by Deputy Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Minister for human rights and Labour, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Revenue & Estate, other male and female members of Provincial Assembly, officials from the Elementary & Secondary Education department, Child Protection & Welfare Commission and Women Commission on the Status of Women.
The speakers and participants of the roundtable discussion reiterated their commitments to improve state of girls’ education in the Province by strengthening efficient and equitable budget allocation and spending to promote safe and enabling environment at educational institutions for girls.
During the consultation, ‘Recommendation Paper to improve Girls’ Secondary Education’ was also launched and handed over to Education Department by Shaukat Yousafzai Minister Human Rights and Labor, Taj Mohammad Minister Revenue, MPA Ziaullah Bangash and Madiha Nisar Vice President WPC.
Shaukat Yousafzai Minister for Human Rights and Labour said, despite the progress, women and girls continued to face multiple challenges in achieving gender equality in all fields, including education.
“The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is committed to address all socio-economic and structural barriers, and to undertake positive measures to bring about gender equality, including in access of, within, and through education”he added.
Taj Mohammad Special Assistant to Chief Minister Special Assistants on Revenue & Estate said “educated girls are a powerful force for building more prosperous, fair and resilient societies based on an ‘invisible chain’ of shared values.”
SDG-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.
Shagufta Malik Member of the opposition benches from KP assembly said,” the recommendation paper by 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 (PECN) and Manager Strategic Engagement & Advocacy Blue Veins said that improved coordination among policymakers, legislators and civil society presents a key opportunity to promote political leadership backed up with resources for improved girls’ education.
The participants of the consultation agreed and emphasized on that education for girls was about more than access to school. It was also about girls feeling safe in classrooms and supported in the subjects and careers they chose to pursue – including those in which they were often under-represented.