By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: Calling for urgent reforms to bridge educational disparities, the National Education Assembly Pakistan has urged the government to ensure equal access to quality education for students in the country’s tribal districts, stressing that every child, regardless of geography, deserves the same educational opportunities and facilities available in developed urban centers.
Chairman of the National Education Assembly Pakistan Sagheer Asad on Friday told reporters at District Press Club Khyber in Landikotal the importance of education, challenges facing the education sector and the need for reforms in the tribal districts.
NEA members Dr. Shahid Raza of Superior Group of Colleges and Dr. Muhammad Yasir, Director of Superior Group of Colleges, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were present on the occasion.
Sagheer Asad said that education was a fundamental right of every citizen, but unfortunately the education sector in the merged tribal districts and several other parts of the country continued to face serious challenges. He stressed that promoting education was essential for eliminating backwardness and ensuring a brighter future, adding that it was the state’s responsibility to provide every child with equal access to quality education.
He said the national education assembly was launched in Lahore and has now expanded its outreach to the Pak-Afghan Torkham border. He noted that a provincial-level meeting was held in Peshawar a day earlier to discuss equal rights and improved educational opportunities for teachers and students across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sagheer Asad emphasized that the facilities available to teachers and students in Lahore should also be extended to those in the tribal districts and other underserved regions. He said the Assembly was actively working to improve the education system, address the concerns of teachers and students and safeguard every child’s right to education.
He added that educational challenges were not the problems of individuals or institutions alone but of society as a whole.
“The issue of one teacher is the issue of all teachers and the problem of one student is the concern of all students,” he said, calling for collective efforts to introduce meaningful reforms in the education sector.
The chairman further said that a large number of teachers and social activists from the tribal districts have joined the national education assembly and would raise concerns regarding the poor condition of government schools and other educational issues with the relevant authorities.
He urged the government to immediately address the shortage of teachers in schools across the tribal districts, stating that children from these areas deserve the same educational opportunities as students elsewhere in Pakistan.
Sagheer Asad urged lawmakers, education experts and relevant institutions to work together to strengthen the country’s education system and secure a better future for the younger generation.
