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PM PRODS MUSLIM WORLD INTO ADDRESSING GIRLS EDUCATION CHALLENGES
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Sunday, 12 January, 2025 I 11 Rajabul Murajjab, 1446
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PM SHEHBAZ UNDERSCORES COLLECTIVE EFFORTS AT SUSTAINABLE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEMALES
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Rs 20.00 | Vol XV No 187 I 8 Pages I Lahore Edition
DENYING EDUCATION TO GIRLS, AMOUNTED TO DENYING THEIR RIGHTS AND RIGHT TO BRIGHT FUTURE: PREMIER
PM SAYS WOMEN MADE HALF OF PAKISTAN POPULATION, YET FEMALE LITERACY RATE STOOD AT 49PC ONLY, WHILE ALARMINGLY AROUND 22.8M KIDS ARE OUT OF SCHOOLS
facing numerous challenges in ensuring access to education for girls, adding that denying education to girls, amounted to
denying their rights and voice and denying them their right to bright future. 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 years, were out of schools, including a proportionate number 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 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. Quaid-e-Azam 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, he recalled.
ISLAMABAD
them for their participation in the conference of high importance in the present-day challenges. He said Pakistan faced different challenges in promoting education for girls. Around 22.8 million children in the country were out of schools and majority among them were girls, he added. The prime minister referred to his earlier speech in the conference wherein he had highlighted the significance of female education as emphasized upon by the Islamic teachings and the instructions of the Holy Prophet
(Peace Be Upon Him). He said that they were ready to share their experience with the relevant authorities in the education sector, adding a committee had been formed in the country over reforms in this sector which was also coordinating with all the provinces. Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Prime Minister/ Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said that the government had undertaken a number of reforms in the education sector. Their goals were compatible with the funding and the budget allocation.
ISLAMABAD
SALEEM JADOON
RIME Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday emphasized the urgent need for Muslim countries to prioritise girls’ education, dubbing it one of the most significant challenges of the time. “I call upon the global and local organizations, philanthropists and entrepreneurs to join hands in creating scalable and sustainable opportunities for ensuring education to women”, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif stated during his opening address at the two-day International Conference on “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities,” began here on Saturday. The conference, held in the federal capital, is being attended by ministers, dignitaries, and representatives from 47 countries and various organisations. The prime minister said that in the next decade, millions of young girls would enter the jobs 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 the 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. He said despite their rich legacy, the Islamic world, including Pakistan, was
– hopeful about outcome of Int’l Conference on Girls’ Education STAFF REPORT
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed his optimism that the current ongoing international conference on girls’ education in Islamabad would go a long way and help them put their acts together to promote education among females in the Islamic countries. Addressing a meeting of the visiting ministers and authorities of education from various Muslim countries, the prime minister expressed gratitude to
PTI lashes out at PML-N’s ‘political dwarfs’ for unjustly criticizing its founder ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lashed out at PML-N’s political ‘dwarfs’ for unjustly criticizing PTI founder Imran Khan, who is unlawfully incarcerated and a prisoner of conscience, a stark contrast to the corrupt Sharifs, who are certified criminals. PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, in a strongly-worded statement on Saturday, slammed Ahsan Iqbal, Maryam and others cronies for spewing venomous and toxic rhetoric targeting Imran Khan unfairly in a deliberate attempt to further pollute the political environment to evade the dialogue process. Sh Waqas stated that PTI founder was a visionary, courageous and selfless leader who had been in arbitrarily detention for over 525 days for his efforts to create a truly democratic Pakistan, where the country was governed by justice and equality, rather than personal interests and power struggles. He condemned the unfair treatment meted out with Imran Khan, who was denied basic facilities in jail and subjected him to inhumane conditions despite being implicated in fabricated and politically motivated cases, demanding that Khan be provided all necessary facilities, including phone calls with his sons. In stark contrast, he recalled how Sharif family, despite being convicted criminals, were allowed to hold daily meetings with their relatives and friends in jail, turning the facility into a ‘jumma bazaar’. He told Maryam that her chicken-hearted father was detained in mega graft cases; hence he was crying for help and sealed a deal to secure release, leaving the party leaders and workers in the lurch.