LAHORE, Feb 10 (APP): Punjab Assembly (PA) Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan said that quality education was the fundamental right of every child and the cornerstone of Pakistan’s bright future.
He was addressing the annual ceremony organised by the Ghazali Education Foundation, here on Tuesday, where he highlighted the gradual improvement in Pakistan’s literacy rate but termed gender and regional disparities a serious challenge. He expressed concern that female literacy continued to lag behind that of men and called for focused efforts to bridge the gap, stressing that sustainable development was impossible without education.
The Speaker noted that following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, education had become a provincial responsibility, adding that Punjab had undertaken effective legislation to promote education across the province.
He said that during the tenure of former Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the province’s education budget had increased steadily, while the current Chief Minister Punjab, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, had approved a record allocation for the 2025-26 budget, marking the highest-ever funding for education in the province’s history.
He described these increases as highly positive and encouraging steps for improving access to quality education across Punjab. He added that if private schools in Lahore had provided free education to 10 percent of their students, more than 650,000 children could have benefited from the opportunity.
Praising the role of non-governmental organisations, the Speaker said that institutions like the Ghazali Education Foundation were playing a significant role in shaping the nation’s educational future and their services deserved appreciation. Referring to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he said that the youth were the true architects of the nation and must move forward through education, discipline and character building.
The ceremony was attended by Members of the Provincial Assembly Iftikhar Ahmad Chhachhar and Malik Shahbaz Khokhar, President Ghazali School System Major (R) Rafiq Hasrat, along with Imtiaz Rehman Chaudhry, Tariq Iqbal Mughal, Aftab Javed, Faheem, Rehman Sehgal, Wasi Shah, Dr Mushtaq Ahmad and Rana Salman Akram, among others.