Seminar on 'Gender in Education Policy' organised

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) and DFID organised a seminar on 'Gender in Education Policy' in collaboration with Sindh Education and Literacy Department here at a local hotel on Thursday. The seminar was organised under the Gender in Education Policy Support Project, a joint tri-partite initiative. Sindh Minister for Education Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq chaired the session.
Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq said that gender discrimination was a serous problem of Pakistan. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto gave highest importance to girls' education, as women constitute half of the country's population, he added. He maintained that the government's policy was based on women empowerment, pledging that women rights would be ensured in the country.
"Girls' education ratio as compared to boys is very low. Amazingly, Sindh is far behind even from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; so Sindh government is taking major policy reforms particularly focusing the rural areas for improving girls' education by providing support and stipends to the girls," the minister said.
The government has taken a major step for girls' education by including article 25-A in 18th Amendment to the constitution for making education as fundamental right of every child, the minister informed. "I was fascinated by the landscape, commitment, hospitality of the Pakistani people but what impressed me the most was the resilience of the communities during floods. With this energy this country can achieve the developmental goals and progress," Andro Shikadze, Chief Field Officer of Unicef said.
Special Education Secretary Waseem Ahmed Ursani appreciated the Gender in Education Policy Support Project, saying that it achieved milestones including the formation of the UNGEI Pakistan chapter to address the gender concerns. Education is the basic right of girls in Sindh province in particular and in general in Pakistan, whereas due to gender difference in education Pakistan stands 2nd highest country in the world in gender difference indexes; particularly in education sector, Rehana Sheikh, Gender and Development Consultant said.
Gender Specialist Shagufta Aali Zai emphasised on the provision of educational infrastructure, which is necessary for quality education for the children. "Media's role is to advocate girls' education policy as well as act as watchdog for the implementation of the policy, Huma Bukhari, a prominent journalist said. "Besides having focus on the country's political affairs, media should also play a role of pressure group for developing national education policy which should be girls' friendly, Huma added.