File photo used for representation only
Panellists at a Doha Forum session yesterday emphasised that education was a basic human right that should be provided to every child without discrimination. They urged the international community to do more to ensure access to quality education, especially for girls.
The panellist said depriving a child of education had consequences to the development of the community and a country’s economy.
The panel discussion on ‘Audacious Goals: Making Them Work on The Ground’ featured Board Chair, Global Partnership for Education, and former President of Tanzania, H E Jakaya Kikwete; activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai; Director General Qatar Fund for Development H E Khalifa Jassim Al Kuwari; and Executive Director Unicef, H E Catherine Russell. Board Member Educate Girls, India, Safeena Husain, moderated the event.
Kikwete said the biggest challenge in providing education to every child is that too many children are out of school. “Our ambition in Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is to provide quality education to every single child. It sounds simple, but it is not easy because too many children are out of school and girls are in the majority,” said Kikwete.
“GPE is dedicated to bringing quality education for most marginalised children. When we began 20 years ago, we partnered with seven low-income countries; today, GPE is working with 76 countries.” He said 160 million more children are in schools since the inception of GPE, with more than half of them being girls. Malala Yousafzai said the world was losing so much by not making adequate investments in girls’ education.
“Today, millions of girls are out of schools. The vision of the Malala Fund for Girls Education is to bring all girls into schools. Girls worldwide should have access to quality education.”
She said learning is one of the basic human rights for girls, which enable them to participate in the development of society. “The loss is not only for girls but the economy, country, and community. Educating girls improves the economy and reduces poverty.”
The Pakistani Nobel laureate said providing quality education to girls is an audacious goal that requires partnership with local organisations and community activists.
“Malala Fund is supporting activists in more than nine countries who are conducting research, pushing for policy changes and focusing on the issues that impact girls’ education, and training teachers and developing curricula,” said Yousafzai.
Meanwhile, Khalifa Jassim Al Kuwari said education is part of Qatar’s culture and is being provided to every child without discrimination. “Education, especially the girls’ education, impacted positively in providing workforce in Qatar. I am very proud to say that QFFD’s staff is 85 percent female.”
He said quality education is a top priority in Qatar’s policy. “We are not only providing school education but also higher studies to girls.” He noted that many scholarships are being given to students, including girls, enabling them to pursue their higher studies in Qatar and abroad. “Education and quality education should be available for every child,” Al Kuwari added.
Catherine Russell said COVID-19 exacerbated the challenge of providing quality education to children. She said the number of children not able to read and understand very simple sentences had risen from the pre-pandemic levels, which she said "indicates that whatever we are doing is not working very well. We should really think about working together to make a better world for our children.”
