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Denying education to girls amounts to denying them their voice: PM Sharif

Agencies
Sunday, Jan 12, 2025

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Muslim world, including Pakistan, faces significant challenges in ensuring equitable access to education for girls, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday, as he urged global and local organisations, philanthropists and entrepreneurs to join hands in creating sustainable opportunities for women’s education.

“Denying education to girls is tantamount to denying their voice and their choice, while depriving them of their right to a bright future,” said PM Sharif while speaking at a two-day International Conference on “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities,” here.

The Prime Minister said in the next decade, millions of young girls would enter job market with immense prospects for social and economic prosperity.

“As they do so, they have the potential to not just lift themselves, their families and the nation out of poverty but also to enrich the global economy, new markets and find innovative solutions to their shared challenges,” he observed.

The Prime Minister also stressed that they should assure the womenfolk that their rights should be respected and their ambitions be met, besides, no cultural or social impediment stood in the way of achieving their dreams.

In Pakistan, the Prime Minister said, women made half of the total population, yet the female literacy rate stood at 49 percent only, while alarmingly around 22.8 million children, with age bracket of five to eight of girls. The inadequate infrastructure, safety concerns, as well as deeply entrenched societal norms further exacerbated the issue, creating a cycle of deprivation, spanning over spans of generations, he regretted.

The Prime Minister said the founding father Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a strong advocate for women’s role in nation building. He had stated “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you,” and advised that the magnitude of these problems might be considerable but they should keep fighting for their cause by committing resources and raising their voice.

The Prime Minister further elaborated that one of the major steps for addressing educational disparities in Pakistan was the establishment of Danish schools during his tenure as the chief minister Punjab.

It was a unique initiative to provide quality education to deprived population and underprivileged students in under-developed rural areas. Without this opportunity, their talent would have been lost in the dusty streets of their remote villages, he added.

The Prime Minister said this initiative was now replicated in different far-flung areas of Pakistan, paving way for promising and inclusive future. He also expressed his satisfaction over the presence of girl students, present in the ceremony, who had graduated from these schools.

He said through youth programmes, the government was committed to providing quality education and creating jobs and offering meaningful opportunities which included scholarships, vocational training and demand-driven skills in AI, data and cyber security etc; as well as, provision of free laptops to high achievers. He said the pursuit of knowledge was the sacred duty of every Muslim regardless of gender.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for their support and patronage of the conference.

He also extended gratitude to the Muslim World League for its unwavering commitment to education.

The Prime Minister also announced the signing of Islamabad declaration in line with the UNSC objectives and as a collective aspiration of the Ummah.

The conference aims at addressing the challenges and opportunities in advancing girls’ education across Muslim communities worldwide; foster dialogue; and find actionable solutions to address the challenges.

The event has brought together over 150 international dignitaries, including ministers, ambassadors, scholars and academia from 44 Muslim and friendly countries, OIC Secretary General, General Secretary Muslim World League, representatives from the international organisations including UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank.