Universal Children Day
PESHAWAR
A local non-governmental organization (NGO) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education (KPESE) jointly observed Universal Children Day 2021to push for integrated measures and actions for access of girls to secondary education, said a press release issued here on Saturday.
World Children’s Day is observed each year on 20th November, which offers an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating into dialogues and actions to build a better world for children.
The session was held by Blue Veins, local non-governmental organization working to promote girl’s education, and Pakistan Education Champion Network PEC which aimed to discuss and explore the ongoing and planned strategies and actions by KPESE for bringing out-of-school children in to education system and to identify collaborative efforts required by government and civil society for the advancement of girls’ access to education.
Besides, the Representatives of Planning Section and Directorate of KPESE including Chief Planning Officer, Senior Planning Officers, Assistant, Additional and Deputy Directors of the Directorate.
The speakers from KPESE highlighted and discussed several prioritized initiatives initiated by the government to increase enrollment and bring out-of-school children into the education system.
Addressing the session, Muhammad Hashim Chief Planning Officer KPESE said that “KP Education department has been playing key and active role for the advancement of girl’s education and in this regard several credible initiatives are initiated including 24% increased in education budget for fiscal year 2021-2022.”
“To strengthen enrollment and retention of girls in schools, we have prioritized number of development schemes for girls’ education, like establishment of 70 Girls Secondary Schools, provision of Free Text Books and stipends in Merged Districts, rehabilitation, upgradation and second shift to increase enrollment capacity in public sector schools.” He added.
Senior Planning Officer KPESE, Mr. Imran Kazim expressed that “COVID-19 not only disrupted the education for students, but has also caused extreme consequences for the Education Department as well. The crisis of pandemic has disproportionately affected the progress and ongoing efforts of the department.”
“The department is committed to protect, and expand education budgets to mitigate the crisis and we ensure to make effective spending of allocated budget to achieved the desired objectives pertaining to girl’s education.” Mr. Noor Alam Khan Senior Planning Officer-I KPESE added.
Blue Veins Program Officer Sana Ahmad said on the occasion that “World Health Organization in 2020 indicated that learning poverty in Pakistan can go up to 79 percent as a result of school closure due to COVID-19 crisis.”
“Girls’ education has been specifically challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for girls from low-income households. We need to address the deeper structural challenges and lead strategic interventions to address the limitations for girls in access to secondary education in the Province.” she concluded.
