KARACHI: The world’s youngest Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai in her most recent visit to Pakistan met with Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and raised several issues regarding rampant practice of corporal punishment in schools, lack of safe transportation, early marriages and quality of education available to girls.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Malala Fund Pakistan and its Education Champions Network organized an event to initiate dialogue on “Driving the Girls’ Education Agenda in Pakistan — Current Status and the Way Forward”. Attended by over 50 participants, including parliamentarians, representatives of the government, NGOs, academia, education experts and schoolgirls. Pressing issues concerning quality of education, child marriages, insecure transportation and overall well-being of females was brought into discussion. The girls demanded the stakeholders to intervene with solutions to the challenges proffered.
Malala also assured to work further with the Malala Fund and government to keep on raising the deep-seated issues and to ensure better future for schoolgirls.
Meeting CM Parvez Elahi
In her meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi, Malala forwarded and discussed in detail all issues faced by girl students. The issues included banning corporal punishment in schools and madrassas, shortage of books and teachers in high school. After giving the problems a patient hearing, CM Elahi approved release of funds worth Rs165 million STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education in high schools. An order for the immediate recruitment of 10,000 teachers in STEAM was also approved. And another win – issue of new legislation to ban corporal punishment.
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