Daily Times

Parliamentary Secretary for Education member of the National Assembly Wajiha Akram Friday said Pakistan should replicate its education uplift endeavours in Afghanistan as both the countries were struggling with similar challenges in the sector.

The parliamentary secretary while addressing the Pak-Afghan Conference on Rebuilding Afghanistan’s panel discussion on Humanitarian Action in Afghanistan: Challenges for Pakistan that focused women empowerment, education, migration, health and international donor assistance.

Wajiha Akram said she considered every crisis prevailing in a state was related to lack of education. However, it was pertinent to mention that Pakistan through Higher Education Commission (HEC) was offering scholarships to Afghan students to develop an educated human resource, she added.

She regretted that education had been neglected in the country for decades whereas Prime Minister Imran Khan had huge interest in teachers training, blended education, technology inclusion and technical education and imparting education on the life of Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him.

Afghanistan, she said, should be made part of the reforms going on in Pakistan as it did in case of developing it’s single national curriculum.

“National Book Foundation can help in Afghanistan to promote book reading and literature for bringing its children out of the trauma of war and violence, she added.

The Ministry of Education and Professional Training was piloting technical education programme after middle that could be imitated in Afghanistan as ‘MatricTech’ programme, she said.

Concluding the discussion WajihaAkram said Afghan nation was a resilient, brave and a dignified nation, and the key partners should not ridicule them by merely throwing aid bags in the name of assistance.

She suggested that there was need to create a fund to rebuild and support Afghanistan as a nation and facilitate in unimpeded trade for the Afghans. “We need to develop an organizational set up to work for assisting Afghans,” she added.

“We have rendered sacrifices of over 80,000 lives, $150billion worth economic losses and is also bearing four million refugees burden and are still staying it course which deserves commendation. As a way forward it needs to be considered as we are united and all donors need to work rebuild Afghanistan,” she ended.

Former Afghan Transport Minister Hassan Mubarak Azizi on the occasion said everything occurred haphazardly in Afghanistan that created a chaos like situation in Afghanistan and halted the government’s machinery in the country which disrupted Afghan system.

Moreover, he said the US announcement to allow all Afghans without travel documents initiated exodus of technical labour and experts in dramatic manner.

“However, Pak-Afghan brotherhood demands the region to keep both the countries united and Pakistan’s role is important in this regard,” he noted.

Commenting on the challenges, he said health crisis had been created in Afghanistan and Pakistan had the capacity to help in this regard. “It is the time for the world to develop friendly ties with Afghanistan. Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid also in his message requested Pakistan for assistance,” he mentioned.

Afghan Peace Activist Obaidullah Agha said rural areas and urban areas had faced huge impact of the prevailing crisis on education sector whereas the violence had halted since Taliban take over that was propitious.

“Our education sector can emerge if Taliban support girls’ education. Furthermore, Pakistan should initiate assistance to Afghanistan in education sector for girls and boys,” he added.