The demand to prioritize education in the next budget and effective implementation of Balochistan package came out in a policy dialogue forum organized by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) and Actionaid Pakistan (AAPk) organized a roundtable on ‘Education System in Balochistan ´ Youth Perspective’. The Roundtable was presided over by former Deputy Speaker National Assembly and former Federal Minister for Education, Sardar Wazir Jogezai.

Mr. Jogezai emphasized the need for making education a priority, purpose-oriented and compulsory in Pakistan. He was of the view that there was no long-term planning for education in Pakistan. He said that it was ironic that in Pakistan education system was following the available resources rather than the other way round. Mr. Jogezai said that availability of good teachers and free and readily available books was more important than schools buildings. Mr. Jogezai also took the opportunity to offer a collective ¿fateha– for Prof. Ghulam Hussain (Saba) Dashtyari who was killed by unknown gunmen on June 1.

Prof. Adeel Jamaluddin professor at International Islamic University Islamabad shared that Balochistan has the lowest Human Development Index of all the provinces of Pakistan at 0.556. He said that with a total area of 134,051 square miles and population density of 58.2 persons per square mile, the very geographic enormity of Balochistan had complicated the problems of education even further. Considering the sparsely populated nature of the province, in Prof. Jamaluddin view, Balochistan formal education system had to be even more developed than the rest of the country. In this context, he suggested distance-learning and vocational training as an alternative to be considered by policy-makers for Balochistan. He added that all major universities of Balochistan were in Quetta, which was not feasible for most of the population of Balochistan. He further shared that most of the 19 lowest-literacy districts of Pakistan, with the exception of a couple of FATA ones, were in Balochistan. Prof. Jamaluddin appreciated the recent announcement by the HEC for the establishment of two universities in Loralai and Khuzdar. He remarked that revival of education system was also important as a counter-insurgency measure, because education system represents a state within its boundaries. Prof. Jamaluddin said that the security of educationists and education institutions was nothing as compared to the security of state officials and security installations. He also emphasized the need for flow of resources from the center to the province to enable the provinces to improve education, which is a provincial subject.

Mazhar Leghari, a senior journalist and human rights activist, said that Pakistan literacy figure of 53 percent was a lot higher than the 37 percent of Balochistan. He disclosed that one of the districts of Balochistan, Musakhel, had only 4 percent literacy. Mr. Leghari was of the view that education in Balochistan was suffering because of the overall poverty in the province. He shared that 58 percent of Balochistan population was living below the poverty line. Sharing some figures, he said that out of the 20 districts of Pakistan where more than 50 percent school-going children were out of school, 10 were in Balochistan. Mr. Leghari pointed out that the promises made under the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan Package (AHBP) had not been fulfilled. He mentioned that about Rs. 12 billion royalty had been released for Balochistan after the package. Mr. Leghari criticized the funding of some private education institutions through money borrowed for development from the World Bank. Citing a report of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), Mr. Leghari said that 22 teachers had been killed in Balochistan while 200 had got themselves transferred while the applications of 200 for transfers were still pending. He was of the view that the multi-cultural fabric of the society had been destroyed due the ongoing conflict situation in Balochistan.