President Asif Ali Zardari reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring free and compulsory education for all children in Pakistan, in accordance with Article 25A of the Constitution.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, in a message on the occasion of International Literacy Day, September 8, 2024, President Zardari emphasised the state's constitutional obligation to provide education to children aged five to sixteen.
President Zardari called for a renewed commitment to advancing the universal right to education, emphasising that every individual has a role in shaping a more educated, inclusive, and prosperous nation.
Highlighting the transformative impact of education, President Zardari underscored this year’s theme, “Promoting Multilingual Education: Literacy for Mutual Understanding and Peace,” noting the critical role of literacy in fostering unity, cultural appreciation, and peaceful coexistence.
He reiterated the government’s declaration of a national educational emergency to address the urgent challenge of illiteracy, with goals to enrol out-of-school children and educate 70 million adults.
As part of this initiative, the Prime Minister’s Roshan Pakistan Literacy Drive and the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) have launched the “Each One Teach One” (EOTO) Program, which encourages every literate citizen to teach at least one illiterate person.
The government is also supporting literacy through conditional cash transfers via the Benazir Taleemi Wazaif program, offering stipends of up to Rs 4000 for boys and Rs 4500 for girls per quarter, benefiting 9.7 million children nationwide. Additionally, 102,000 scholarships have been awarded to students from low-income families to ensure access to undergraduate education.
He expressed hope that collective efforts would foster lasting peace, mutual understanding, and a brighter future for all Pakistanis.