THIS is apropos of I.A. Rehman’s article ‘ What education?’ (Dec 13). The writer has shown pessimism over the outcome of the efforts being made by Unesco even though funds for girls’ education have been initiated as a new drive in this direction. The writer is gravely concerned with the discrimination being discerned in certain regions of the country towards girls’ education.

Education has always been the dire need of an enlightened society in every age. Educated people have always been given recognition in every nook and cranny of the world. In the subcontinent the great champion of education, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, stressed on studying the modern language, English, to compete with others in society, side by side assimilating other subjects.

This millennium has no doubt seen surprising leaps and bounds in the advancement of education. Today information and technology require excellent standard of education to comprehend the latest global knowledge. In this context , ignoring any segment of society from equipping with education would push the country into abyss of ignorance and backwardness.

Indeed education has become science as it requires use of statistics and calculations to tackle with the day-to-day problems confronting education. The foremost requirement in the field of education is achievement of primary universal education both by girls and boys as one of the objectives planned in the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

It is dismal to note that we start every programme with a great aplomb , but afterward we forget it and the end results are put into oblivion. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the thinking and biased approach of the tribal people occlude in the dissemination of education to the girls. The deprivation of girls’ right of education is a colossal loss to the development of the country.

In this age of time versus education we will have to assert collectively. In backward areas tribal chieftains should mull over the need for educating womenfolk. In this situation the media that has taken cudgels to combat every misdeed in the country should come to the rescue of policymakers in making their plans beneficial to the masses, especially for the people living in far-flung areas.

Over and above, curriculum committees, the education department, teachers, students and parents must gird up their loin to march with the global knowledge in letter and in spirit.

M.SALEEM ANSARI Karachi