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Gordon Brown, United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy for Global Education endorses the “One Million Signature Campaign” for Right to Education

by: admin

November 9, 2012

Endorsement 

Islamabad, November 9, 2012: In an interaction organized by ITA in collaboration with National Commission for Human Development, UNICEF, UNESCO and Ministry of Education and Training, the former British Premier observes that Pakistan has the potential to present herself as the fastest developing country in achieving a better profile in educating its children.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Brown said that  ITA’s One Million Signature Campaign symbolises the struggle of all Pakistani children for the Right to Education. He pledged to provide support for the One Million Signature Campaign and added his signature to the ever growing list. On a very positive note, he said that Pakistan can be the world leader in the struggle for education for all children on a global level. Children presented to him the summary of One Million Signatures collected from across Pakistan for Right to Education at the occasion.

Dr. Nafeesa Shah, Member of Parliament and Chairperson NCHD, gave the welcome speech and highlighted the state of emergency in Pakistan because of terrorism and natural disasters. She gave the figures of 5500 schools destroyed in the earthquake of 2010 and 10,000 submerged schools in the recent floods. She said that education will unite Pakistanis in combating both these major problems and would take Pakistan forward.

Fahd Hussain, Ambassador for Right to Education and ASER, said that the biggest failure of the Pakistani state is that in over 65 years it still has not managed to educate its children. He raised two points of “Criminal Neglect” which included the limited budget allocated to education and the three tiered education system which creates social divides. He said “if the state can be half as brave as Malala, we can achieve the results we seek”.

Baela Raza Jamil, Trustee/Advisor ITA also gave some facts and figures highlighting the situation of education in Pakistan saying that 34% of Pakistani children are out of school at a primary level. She commended 10th November as being Malala day and provided a way forward to promote the Right to Education in Pakistan.