Do not deny children their birthright to education
Let the dark mind spark with the ray Let the person dive into the sea Into the sea of knowledge To purify with the light By the sun of knowledge The Holy Quran says, “IQRA’’ (read). At another place it is stated that “Are those equal, those who know and those who don’t know.’’ Our beloved Prophet (PBUH) said “Seek knowledge even if it be in China.’’ Education is the pathway to develop the hidden skills of a person. A person who is educated explores the knowledge hidden in the mysterious land. It also enlightens our dark mind and nourishes our well being. According to the UNO human rights declaration, as stated in the article 26(i) “Everyone has a right to education. Education shall be free at least in elementary and fundamental stage’’. Let’s imply it on our Pakistan. Our literacy rate is 58%. The education is given only 2.5% of the GDP. There are private and Government colleges and universities flourishing in urban areas but on the other side education especially in the rural areas lack basic infrastructure, teachers training, up gradation of curriculum and society involvement. There in the mountains no proper educational facilities are provided like furniture, libraries proper classes etc. Is education not a right for girls? In our society girls /female education is not emphasized, especially in tribal areas girls are not allowed to attend schools. They are to households. She is stopped to nourish her mind to be aware of the world. Paper, pencil and other educational tools are only a sweet dream to them. But when a girl stands up to speak for her right, when a little candle enlighten a dark mind in the dynamic world, when a bird wants freedom and spread her wings he was targeted and shot. She is Malala Yousafzai, she is known for her education and women rights activism in Swat valley, where the Taliban had at times banded girls from attending schools. On 9th Oct 2012, Malala was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by the Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus. But she was saved by Almighty Allah and given life. The achievements of Malala are uncountable, she won Pakistan’s first national youth peace prize. Millions of letters have been received in the UNO chamber to award Nobel peace prize to her. All head of states and honorable person Barack Obama US president, Ban-kimon, UN Sectary General, and many more appreciated her work. 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwa against those who tried to kill her. With all these happenings at last she was given the Nobel Peace award. If a child can give us a hope of new dawn, why don’t we start getting our right of education? We should be aware that a country which is unable to develop its population into human resource, cannot achieve development. The country cannot develop the personality of her citizen. We should switch on the universality of education. We should all stand up to ensure education as a birth right of every child. With Malala’s message, we will educate ourselves, we will win. They cannot defeat us.]]>