Statement by Mr. Sohail Ahmad, Secretary Planning Division on Linkages between Population and Education during the 44th Session of the Commission on Population and Development, (14th April, 2011)

Mr. Chairman,

Thank you for the opportunity to make a statement on this vital topic.

Pakistan realizes that education is one of the most powerful determinants of population development in any country in today’s world, particularly in developing countries like Pakistan. With the presence of frameworks such as Dakar Framework of Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals, we all acknowledge the impact of quality education on population development issues including women’s empowerment, fertility control, skilled labor force and higher economic gains for a country.

As one of the signatories of the Dakar Framework, Pakistan is committed to achieving its objectives through inter alia maximizing dividends from our present demographic composition. The 2009 National Education Policy of Pakistan identifies priority of ensuring equal education opportunities for all – particularly girls and women. The Government of Pakistan’s efforts have been bearing fruit in this regard.

Mr. Chairman,

There is no doubt that education has a salutary effect on all facets of life including health and family planning. Pakistan fully realizes the potential of Education for enhancing awareness on hygiene, diseases, family planning and reproductive health care services. The recent amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan stipulates provision of Life Skills-based Education for all young people along with basic functional literacy. We are confident that this constitutional cover will enhance enrollment in primary schools and decrease dropout rates. Even otherwise, Pakistan’s provincial governments have recently undertaken large effective programs for retaining girls in school beyond grade 8 through cash transfers.

In the context of reproductive health education, the Government of Pakistan has made endeavors to reach out to those sections of society who have not benefitted from formal education. In this regard, National Trust for Population Welfare (NATPOW) & National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) have joined hands to promote safe motherhood & child healthcare, personal hygiene, reproductive health, environmental safety & stability practices through dissemination of relevant information and knowledge to the young girls, mothers and men of reproductive age, through Adult Literacy Program of NCHD.

Moreover, the government of Pakistan has established Education Foundations to encourage expansion of quality private sector educational institutions and thereby increasing enrollments overall.

All these factors dovetail into our objective to achieve 100% literacy. There still are formidable challenges. These include high population growth rate, internal migration, urbanization and recent unprecedented natural disasters. But these are not insurmountable.

We are confident that we can count on full support of the Untied Nations and the international community in our efforts in tackling different challenges to realize the objectives of ‘Education for All’.

Thank you.