The inauguration of the new gender unit established by the Sindh Government’s Education and Literacy department, was held today in Karachi. This joint initiative of the Sindh Government, Indus Resource Center (IRC) and Oxfam aims to mainstream gender within the education system in the province. Education Minister Sindh, Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar, Oxfam Chair Designate Caroline Thomson and IRC Executive Director Sadiqa Salahuddin led the panel discussion on promoting gender equality in schools and empowering women.
The Education and Literacy Department of Sindh gives an annual stipend to female students to encourage them to pursue their education. An amount of Rs. 1500 million had been allocated for 275,000 female students in 2015-16 and 280,000 female students for 2016-17. The girls’ stipend is an incentive programme to ensure greater transition and retention of female students post primary education.
Speaking on the occasion Minister Dahar said, “This initiative is reflective of the Sindh Government’s commitment to increase the enrollment of girls in school. If you educate a woman you educate a nation, for that reason we are encouraging girls to stay in school and benefit our society.”
Oxfam’s Ms. Thomson supported the Minister’s views and said, “Poverty and inequality are present around the world but they affect girls and women the most. Without educating women we will not have advancement in our communities. We need to have role models for female students in the form of teachers who they can look up to and who encourage them to continue their education”.
The new gender unit will be led by Deputy Secretary (Gender) Education department, Ms. Mehwish Qalbani. The unit will oversee the implementation of national laws and policies which deal with gender inequalities and gender-based violence. It will work on the development of management capacity to promote gender equality and ensure that textbooks are free of gender bias. IRC’s Ms. Salahuddin thanked the participants for their contribution in the gender unit’s establishment and acknowledged Oxfam’s support throughout the process.
