PESHAWAR:Human Rights Institutions, government departments, and education stakeholders reaffirm their commitment to end gender inequality in education and take affirmative measures to promote girls’ equal access to elementary and secondary education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The commitment was made in a roundtable table consultation of Joint Working Group of National Human Rights Institutions NHRIs on girls education, established by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women KPCSW with support of Blue Veins.
A Joint Working Group was established by KPCSW with a core purpose of supporting the provincial government and education department to advocate, protect and sustain the rights of girls to quality education in KP. It comprises representatives from the Provincial Assembly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women, Directorate General of Law and Human Rights KP, Directorate, Secretariat and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Right to Information Commission, Right to Services Commission, and KP Child protection and welfare commission, National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR), Blue Veins and CSOs.
Chairing the first consultation, Parliamentary Secretary, Higher Education, MPA Ayesha Bano said “Bringing improvement in the education sector is the topmost priority of the KP government, and special focus is being given on girls’ primary and secondary education. The focus will remain the same and KP will serve as an epitome for the other provinces for the budget it spends on education, particularly on girls’ education.”
The factor of climate change was also highlighted by Ayesha Bano, as it is one of the key factors, exacerbating already poor educational access, especially for girls.
The statistics on girls’ education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was shared in the consultation. The data provided to the Joint working group shows that 53 percent of girls falling in the age group 5-16 years are out-of-school in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Qamar Naseem, Member Pakistan Education Champion Network PECN shared the data from a recently conducted survey by BISP’s National Socio-Economic Registry census.
He said that “the BISP survey had put the number of out-of-school children at 4.7 million, out of which 2.9 million are girls. Government needs to establish over 15,000 additional schools to accommodate out-of-school children.” However, the given figure had been exacerbated by the recent floods, he added.
Dr Rukhsana Aziz, Senior Planning Officer Elementary and Secondary Education Department, said “In the preparation of annual development programme, proposals for establishment of new schools, upgradation of Middle Schools to High level on need basis, emergency response & preparedness, repairs and maintenance of schools, are the top priorities of the education department.”
“Furthermore, the Joint Working Group of NHRIs should call upon the Special Secretary Education KP in future meetings for improved coordination and networking among the education stakeholders and Secretariat of E&SE for strengthening gender-responsive education policies and measures” she added.
Amna Durrani, Director Program KP Commission on the Status of Women KPCSW, said “National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) have a key role in women’s empowerment through their unique mandate and powers.”
“Human Rights institutions at the National and Provincial level can play meaningful role in a variety of situations, from monitoring the state of girls’ education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to streamlining the problems as human rights issue and can help government in reshaping inclusive, equitable and responsive education policies, laws, and initiatives”, she added.