Education basic right, should not be mistaken as charity, says Hafiz-Naeem-ur-Rehman

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Pakistan Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman has said education is a basic and constitutional right of every child as provision of quality and free education is the responsibility of the government, which should not be considered as charity.

The JI Emir expressed these views, here on Wednesday, while inaugurating Abu Turab School and Abdul Qadeer Khan Tech Space . He also formally inaugurated 70 roads and 300 streets in the same Gulberg Town.

He said he was pleased to see a banner outside a government school in Liaquatabad on social media that read "Admissions Closed". It was a sign that if quality education was provided in government schools, parents took interest in getting their children admitted there.

He said JI had given top priority to education and health sectors. He said school buildings were being upgraded, parks were being improved, open gyms were being set up and work was under way on rainwater harvesting projects.

He said JI had decided to issue Education Cards in those towns of Karachi where it held municipal responsibilities.

He stressed the need to expand the Education Card project on a large scale across Karachi so that children of poor and middle-class families could also get education. After paying inflation-hit electricity and gas bills and house rent, it becomes difficult for many parents to pay their children's school fees. In such a situation, acquiring quality education becomes a major problem for them.

Ensuring provision of education to children aged five to 17 years is the responsibility of the government and for this purpose, government educational institutions must be made functional, quality-oriented and reliable for parents, he added. 

He said it needs to be understood that the budget spent on education is provided from taxes paid by the people. Money collected in the national exchequer is a trust of the people and should be spent on public welfare, education, health and other basic needs. But the question is where the huge budget allocated for education is being spent? People want to know for what purposes their tax money is being used instead of being spent on the future of their children. We do see that wealth, bank balances, vehicles and official perks of certain classes continue to increase, while children of the common man remain deprived of quality education.

He said figures showing 52 per cent failure of Class IX students in Punjab raised serious questions about the performance of the education system.

He said JI had highlighted the issues of the common man in a very effective manner and was now going to launch the third phase of its movement against extortion levy with 150 sit-ins across Pakistan on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar said education is the basic responsibility of the state and it is the duty of the government to provide quality education to every child. Establishment and improvement of model schools and now inauguration of Abu Turab School and Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan Tech Space is part of the same chain.

On one hand schools are being outsourced and privatised, while on the other JI, despite its limited resources, is working for improvement of government schools.

He said nine towns under JI had restored 60 schools afresh during the last three years.

He said 7.8 million children in Sindh were out of school, which is a highly alarming situation. He said 63pc schools in Sindh do not have water facility, 51pc schools do not have boundary walls and 25pc schools do not have proper washroom facilities for boys and girls. He said during the long tenure of the incumbent government in the province, the number of schools without boundary walls had increased from 4,500 to 5,500. In such a situation, serious and effective measures were needed to improve the education system.

The ceremony was also addressed by JI leader Kamran Siraj and Town Chairman Nusratullah Khan.