ISLAMABAD: Speakers at an event on Friday emphasised scaling up girls’ education programmes in the country.

The discussion and marketplace event was hosted by British High Commission (BHC) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in partnership with Idara Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA).

Titled “Leave no girl behind: scaling up what works for adolescent girls in Pakistan”, the event was held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA).

Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood was chief guest on the occasion.

The minister said the government was mulling to introduce a policy to use educational institution buildings for evening classes in those areas where girls were facing difficulties to reach schools.

Says govt mulling to introduce a policy to launch evening classes in those areas where girls are facing difficulties to reach schools

He believed the biggest barrier to female education in Pakistan was lack of access.

Stakeholders and representatives from government, development partners, industry, civil society and media shared lessons learnt from the DFID-funded Siyani Sahelian initiative implemented by the NGO. It aimed at tackling gender inequality for disadvantaged out-of-school girls aged nine to 19 years in the districts of Muzaffargarh, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.

The event also focused on building partnerships to scale up locally-led solutions for the most marginalised adolescent girls through second chance learning, inclusionary approaches and information and communications technology.

In his opening remarks, British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner said: “The UK has pledged to advance at least 12 years of quality education for all girls across the world,” adding Pakistan can only reach its full potential if women are given voice and a choice.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Dr Sania Nishtar said the government was conscious of the glaring gender disparities in many sectors.

“Attention to women issues, particularly social protection, education, livelihoods and economic empowerment is central to the prime minister’s multi-sectoral Ehsaas programme. We stringently follow 50 per cent plus benefits policy for women under Ehsaas to create equal opportunities for them ensuring that no girl is left behind. Ehsaas Kafaalat, undergraduate scholarships, interest free loans and Amdan are aimed at bringing women on the pathways to socioeconomic prosperity,” she added.

ITA chief Baela Raza Jamil said strong evidence showed that Siyani Sahelin is a highly scalable and accelerated programme that should reach every corner of Pakistan for all drop-out/never enrolled girls to complete their education and enter the workforce equipped with certified skills and confidence.

DFID Pakistan head Annabel Gerry said the UK was pleased to support collective action to step up efforts to advance girls’ education in Pakistan.

“We believe in leading by example and building sustainable partnerships - our support so far has benefitted millions of girls in primary and secondary schools in Pakistan. We are also targeting more than 20,000 hardest to reach and the most marginalised girls in southern Punjab to get the quality of education they deserve and earn livelihoods for themselves and their families.

The event saw a panel discussion on ‘What works for girls education and empowerment’.

The panelists had a consensus that though the government outlined ambitious plans for girls’ education and empowerment, much more needed to be done.

Moreover, pledges were made by Unicef country representative Aida Girma, PNCA Director General Dr Fouzia Saeed, JICA senior programme manager Nazia Seher and HUM TV network president Sultana Siddiqui to help improve the lives of girls and women.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2020