Provincial Roundtable: Punjab

With the Ghazali Education Trust, PCE organised an all-parties provincial roundtable in Lahore. Members of political parties took part, including Barrister Amir Hassan (PPPP), Bushra Anjum Butt (PML-N), Liaqat Baloch (Naib Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami), Dr. Ishfaq Shuja (JUI-F), Mian Imran Masood (PML-Q), Sadia Sohail Rana (PTI), and Rana Mashood, alongside Javed Ahmed Malik (Country Programme Director, Malala Fund) and Sara Ahmed (Chairperson, Child Protection), who advocated for decentralising education funds and continued reform for children with disabilities.

Participants named weak planning, poor coordination, and low GDP allocations as the major obstacles to effective implementation, and pressed for proper monitoring, long-term goal-based evaluation, continuity of education projects and policies, gender-responsive and inclusive approaches, teacher training, and more funding. Zehra Arshad (National Coordinator, PCE) emphasised the formation of a joint Education Charter and urged parties to prioritise education in their manifestos, especially for girls and persons with disabilities.