Ruling elite responsible for destruction of education sector: Sirajul Haq

KARACHI, Dec 23 (SABAH): Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Emir Sirajul Haq has held the ruling elite responsible for destruction of education sector, saying the feudal lords and waderas do not want to empower the children of common man.

Addressing students gathering at University of Karachi on the 75th foundation day of Islami Jamiat Talba on Thursday, Sirajul Haq demanded the government fulfill its promise to lift ban on student unions.

“Students have long been holding marches for the right to form unions which was taken away from them by military dictator Zia ul-Haq but the so-called democratic rulers too have not been ready to listen to their demands,” said the JI Emir, asserting the agenda of the ruling elite was same and they were creating every hurdle in the way of common man. “The government must fulfill its promise to lift the ban on student unions.”

Sirajul Haq said the education budget of Pakistan were much lower than the regional countries. The public-school infrastructure lacked basic facilities and over 30 million children were out of school due to poverty, he said, asking the government to inform the public what it had done in three years for the improvement of education sector.

“The government must fix five per cent of the GDP for education,” he said, adding the parents could not afford the universities and colleges fee of their children due to costly education. The government, he said, snatched bread from poor, and books and pen from students. He said the anti-education policies of the present rulers were much visible as the government made 23 percent decrease in higher education budget.

The JI chief paid tribute to the struggle of the IJT for the protection of student rights and betterment of education sector. He said the IJT was protecting the ideological boundaries of the country. He asked the students to play their role in nation building.

JI Karachi chapter Engineer Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rahman and IJT Nazim-e-Aala Hamza Muhammad Siddiqui also spoke on occasion.