TIME
FOR CHANGE
In Pakistan, most of the 55 million illiterates are adults and two thirds are women. There is no country can make real progress if half of its adult population lacks the basic human skills of reading and writing. Pakistan has the second largest number of out of schoolgirls in the world.
The UN Secretary General’s
Special Envoy, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, visited Pakistan and
held meetings with the President to improve the campaign for education in the
country. He pledged financial and technical assistance. The government launched a Waseela-e-Taleem program where
three million children would be enrolled in schools and to attract them, Rs 200
per month will be provided to each of them out of the Benazir Income Support
Program (BISP).
What
the attack on Malala makes clear is that this is really a battle over
education. A repressive mindset has been allowed to thrive in Pakistan because
of the madrassa system set up by power-hungry clerics. It’s a deeply rooted
indoctrination! These madrassa, or religious schools headed by clerics, are the
breeding ground of Islamic radicalism. These clerics don’t teach the students critical
thinking skills; instead they breed hate, and train children how to use guns
and bombs. They teach how not to live but to die.
Malala’s story is
not only inspiring, but it gives the rest of us hope that we can make a
difference by simply being passionate and working towards making a better
community against all odds. Her courage and generosity at such a young age is a
reminder to all of us that we can impact humanity in big ways even with very
little at hand.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/21/the-girl-who-changed-pakistan-malala-yousafzai.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Pakistan
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