Education for All Week: Pakistan lags on key education indicators
23 April 2012, Islamabad. – As the world marks "Education for All Week" (23-29 April 2012), UNICEF and UNESCO are concerned that Pakistan is unlikely to meet the two education-related targets of the UN Millennium Development Goals. The theme of this year's Education for All Week – which raises awareness of the importance of Education for All – is Early Childhood Care and Education.
"A quality and child-friendly education is the basic right of all children in Pakistan. Young children who are marginalized by poverty or other factors stand to benefit most from early childhood care and education, but in Pakistan and across the world, these children have least access to education," said UNICEF Pakistan Representative, Dan Rohrmann.
"Education is vital for the development of children's linguistic, cognitive and social skills, which represent the foundations for lifelong learning and children's contribution to society," said UNESCO Representative to Pakistan, Dr. Kozue Kay Nagata and, therefore, emphasized that "no child should be deprived of their right to education."
"Both UNESCO and UNICEF call on all those involved in the provision of education to do all they can to improve the quality of education and extend the reach of existing education services."
In Pakistan, more than 7 million children aged between 5 and 9 are deprived of their right to basic education. Globally, about 67 million children don't have access to primary education.
The reality in Pakistan is that good quality Early Childhood Education or pre-primary education programs are not accessible to most of the youngest children, while the majority of primary schools lack basic facilities.
Seventy per cent of Government primary schools have only one or two rooms for five classes. More than 40 per cent of schools are without latrines; 66 per cent do not have electricity; and children in 37 per cent of schools lack drinking water facilities.
Katchi or pre-primary classes in Pakistan are mostly without a separate room, exclusive teacher, and teaching-learning aids, which are required by the national curriculum. A good quality Early Childhood Education is accessible to fewer than 10 per cent of children in Pakistan.
In April 2010, the Pakistan Parliament recognized the fundamental right of all children to free and compulsory education. This was formalised through the historic 18th Amendment and insertion of Article 25-A into the Constitution.
UNESCO and UNICEF are working together to support provincial Departments of Education to improve learning conditions in schools, enhance teacher training, provide teaching-learning materials, and mobilize local communities to increase enrolment of out-of-school children. (#)
About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. In Pakistan, it works with the federal and provincial, NGOs and other partners to support child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. It has provided vital relief and reconstruction support to help individuals rebuild their lives after emergencies, such as the 2010 monsoon floods and the October 2005 earthquake. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.
About UNESCO
UNESCO is specialized agency of the UN system, mandated to work in the fields of education, sciences, culture, communication and information. At the global level, UNESCO has been assigned the responsibility of coordinating Education For All efforts. UNESCO works both at the national level to bring policy reforms as well as at provincial and the district levels to build capacity of educational institutions, educationists, curriculum developers, teacher trainers and education managers. In Pakistan, UNESCO has successfully advocated constitutional reforms for declaring access to free and compulsory education a fundamental right. UNESCO is working closely with all provincial Departments of Education.
For further information:
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Ms. Phyza Jameel, Communication and Information Specialist, UNESCO, Cell: 0321 4771462 ; Email. p.jameel@unesco.org
