Islamabad (Staff Reporter) — Malaika S. Raza, General Secretary of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Human Rights Cell, attended the joint provincial meeting on out-of-school children, organized by the Parliamentary Caucus on Child Rights. The session brought together representatives from all provinces to address the growing concern of children being left behind in education across Pakistan.

Malaika S. Raza praised the efforts being made by provincial governments to tackle the crisis but stressed that enhanced inter-provincial coordination is essential to achieve meaningful progress. Highlighting the seriousness of the issue, she pointed out that the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) alone has 89,000 out-of-school children.

In her remarks, Ms. Raza presented several practical solutions to curb the dropout rate and improve child protection in schools. These included:

• Public-private partnerships to strengthen education delivery, especially in underserved areas;

• Formation of child protection committees within schools to address issues like harassment, bullying, health, and safety;

• Poverty alleviation incentives, such as stipends or food programs, to support families and encourage consistent school attendance.

She emphasized that any serious effort to bring children back to school must be holistic, inclusive, and sensitive to both social and economic barriers.

The meeting concluded with a consensus on the urgency of the matter, and participants agreed to explore collaborative mechanisms for policy implementation and resource sharing across provinces.