Punjab with 9.2 million out-of-school children stands 2nd in world after Nigeria
Poor families do not sent children to schools: Dr. Rauf-e-Azam
Political parties don’t know how to implement manifestoes: Dr. Abid Hussain Ch.
LAHORE (Wednesday – July 18, 2018): The Punjab government of PML-N has claimed building over 5,000 schools, however, nine million children are out of school yet including mostly girls – putting the province at the top with a total of 25 million out-of-school-children in Pakistan.
Renowned educational expert Prof. Dr. Rauf-i-Azam, Vice Chancellor University of Education Lahore, while talking to The Educationist said that: “Mostly children of poor families cannot get education as their
parents do not send them schools because they want them to do labour for supporting their families and earn a monthly income. There is a dire need of legislative support because a child not only belongs to his/her parents but also the state. Parents have no right to stop study of a child and if they do so, they will get punishment by the government. On the other, this is the responsibility of our government to give monthly stipend to children to stop child labour and also to increase enrollment in schools,” Dr. Rauf added.
Experts believed that Article 25-A must be implemented in the letter and spirit.
A UNESCO report reveals that in 2018 at total 9.2 million children are out of school in Punjab alone, out of which 5.03 million are girls reflecting an alarming situation. Pakistan stands second in the world ranking of out-of-school children with only Nigeria ahead of it, while Punjab is on the top among the provinces in this regard.
Dr. Abid Hussain, the professor of Institute of Education and Research (IER) University of the Punjab, who is also Chairman of Elementary Education Department, said “There is a dire need to relate education to economy. The government should arrange best education system also skillful education for both boys and girls. He said that mostly in villages parents do not allow their girls to get education because they think that education spoil human but this concept is wrong,” he added.
Engineer Qamar ul Islam Raja, Chairman Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), said in a report that ‘’currently, 11.5 million children go to public schools in Punjab, while another three million children study at the schools supported by PEF. Around 40% of the children in the province are deprived of basic educational needs. To improve this abysmal state of affairs, Mr. Islam Raja added that the government will allocate Rs 400 billion in the budget for education.’’
While talking about the manifesto of different political parties, Dr. Abid Hussain, the professor of Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of the Punjab and Chairmen of Elementary Education Department, said that “Before election every political party presents its manifesto very well regarding education but no one knows about how to implement this planning?’’
The government should arrange seminars, workshops for parents and students to sensitize them on the importance of education and also promise to give them job after the study, he added.