LAHORE: (Thursday, September 19, 2024): Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood has said that a joint campaign must be launched to bring out-of-school children back to school for a better future of Pakistan. He was addressing the 4th annual ‘National Conference for Research and Education’ with the theme of ‘School-deprived children: Causes and Solutions’, at Waheed Shaeed Hall organized by organized by Institute of Education and Research. On this occasion, IER Director Prof Dr Tariq Mehmood, renowned journalist and analyst Salman Ghani, Chairman Department of Advanced Studies in Education Prof Dr Muhammad Shahid Farooq, coordinator of the conference Dr Shazia Malik, educationists, researchers, faculty members and a large number of students were present. In his address, PU VC Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood said that unfortunately, education has not been among top priorities in Pakistan. He said that some poor countries that became independent after us also moved ahead by promoting education and research. He said that despite the lack of resources, if we work together, it is possible to solve the problems being faced by education sector. He said that according to the population of Pakistan, 39% children are out of school, which is a big tragedy. While, appreciating the IER for organizing the best conference, he said that young students are the center of our hopes. Salman Ghani said that those nations are ahead around the world, who improved their generations by promoting education and research. He said that Pakistan is only ahead of Afghanistan among the nine countries in terms of education literacy in the region, which is the main reason for lagging behind in the field of development. He said that to get the country out of the education crisis, all the institutions and individuals of the state will have to be united. He said that unless education is given top priority in Pakistan, the country will not develop. He said that our children are not less than anyone in talent, ability and are getting prominent positions in competitions around the world. He said that due to lack of leadership, Pakistan is suffering from moral crisis. He said that modern curriculum to develop skills along with degrees is the need of the hour. Prof Dr Tariq Mehmood said that out-of-school children could cause disorder and deterioration in the society when they would grow up. He said that education is the basic right of every child for which more steps should be taken. He said that it is important to know the reasons for children not going to school so that it can be resolved.