Alif Ailaan has taken a bow. For its five-year mandate has come to an end. It was a campaign that strove to place education at the forefront of public discourse here in Pakistan. Naturally, this was no mean feat given how local extremist groups have at times been far more effective at keeping girls out of school than the state has been in securing their education; along with that of boys. Indeed, Alif Ailaan believes that just a single child out of school is one too many. We could not agree more.
That being said, there is no ignoring the fact that here in the 21st century, nuclear-armed Pakistan is home to anywhere between 22.8-25 million out-of-school children. Bearing this in mind, the Alif Ailaan campaign kept things simple by focusing on no more than three objectives: to make sure that every Pakistani child is enrolled in school; that no child drops out; and that every child receives high quality education.
Yet Alif Ailaan was never involved in providing material goods and services or, indeed, funding. Rather its role was to act as bridge of sorts linking parents and children to schools and teachers as well as local authorities. In fact, this was perhaps the beauty of this model; whereby an unwritten goal was to empower all stakeholders. And once this is set in motion it becomes sustainable in inter-generational terms. It also serves as a means of encouraging the citizenry to hold those in positions of power to transparent account. Then there is, of course, the added bonus of ensuring that donor nations implement their own in-built fund-tracking mechanisms. Alif Ailaan was sponsored by Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID). Yet this set-up played to each side’s strengths. Namely by putting a local partner in the education driving seat.
The key is now to maintain the established momentum. This means that the provinces must not be left entirely to their own devices. Particularly in terms of curricula. But, also, in cracking down on the so-called ghost school phenomenon. And most importantly, to drive home the fact that under the 18th Amendment, which also devolved education to the provinces, the Constitution now provides that “free and compulsory education” is the fundamental right of every Pakistani child from 5-16 years.
The latter is something that the PTI government needs to keep in mind. For now that it is at the Centre as well as in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — it should go all out to realise this objective. Thereby doing away with the need to funnel millions of rupees into a controversial madrassa with known ties to militant groups. After all, the right to good quality education is an intrinsic part of the right to childhood. And as Imran Khan is wont to say: they are all our children. Thus the state must take seriously its role as guardian. *
Published in Daily Times, September 2nd 2018.