Bilawal Ali lund
Education is basic human right for everyone. It is not all about studying only and getting good marks but real purpose of education is what really it makes a better human in society, contributes in development of country, enhancing prudence while taking rights decisions at right time and respecting rights, laws, and regulations. Importantly, Pakistan is a country where 64 percent of the population is younger than 30 year. The fact that huge population can become source of strength for country when most of them has accessed education in befitting manner with technical skills can lift nation towards progress otherwise huge chunk of population will be source of weakness for country. According to Economic survey 2020-2021 has revealed that the literacy rate in the country remains at stagnant rate at 60 percent. Article 25-A of the constitution 1973 guarantees that the “state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age 5 to 16 years”. On the other hand, It is worrisome to mention that Pakistan has the second highest drop out of school children about 22m children from 5 to 16 years. The statistics of drop out of school children manifests that majority of students are deprived of getting education. There is need of proper implementation of 25-A so that students could be brought back in institutions. Nelson Mandela has rightly stated that “ Education is a powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. There is no denying the fact that power of education extends the development of skills and contribute in nation building and reconciliation. Thus, Pakistan needs to urgently address this silent emergency. It is high time to implement pragmatic strategies including enhance quality of education including vocational and training skills, to end nepotism and ameliorate infrastructure ,transparency and accountability in utilizing budget for institutions and eliminate gender disparity.
