KARACHI: Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the promotion of literacy, be it the incumbent Selected-government or the undemocratic governments of the past, never remained among their priorities.
In a statement on the occasion of International Literacy Day, PPP Chairman said that it is a matter of big concern that Pakistan is lagging behind every country in the region except Afghanistan in the field of education and literacy.
Bilawal expressed grave concern over the reports that more than 20 million school-age children are out of school in the country, adding that Education is the basic right of every child.
Chairman PPP said that the incumbent government’s agenda was not to increase literacy, rather its complete focus is on changing the name of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) and its component the Waseela Taleem Program.
He said that significant and basic steps, in the field of education, had only been taken during the tenure of PPP governments. Whether it were governments led by the Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, or the people’s government under the leadership of Mard-e-Hur Asif Ali Zardari, the largest number of schools and universities, in the history of the country, were established during the tenure of said governments, he said.
“The People’s Government of Sindh has allocated Rs277.5 billion for the Education and Literacy Department during the current financial year”, he maintained.
