“A quality education grants us the

ability to fight the war on ignorance and poverty.”

–Charles B. Rangel

Under Article 26 of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, every individual has the right to education. Many states in the world have taken measures to eradicate illiteracy and establish a well-rounded educational system. Our country, however, is among the underdeveloped where education is frequently termed as a luxury available to the well-to-do. In our state, literacy rates do not rise. They fall. It was found in a study that in 2013, the literacy rate in Pakistan fell by 2% of what it was in 2012. Under the United Nations Millennium Development goals, Pakistan was required to increase its literacy rate to 88% by 2015 but it clearly fell far behind the target. Records also show that since 2005, the number of children not attending school at all has been 25 million. These statistics themselves should raise alarm for government bodies. Unfortunately, minimum state resources are allotted to uplifting educational institutions. Poverty, abuse and criminal behaviour are all the products of illiteracy. If all these social evils are to be uprooted from society, our only hope lies in educating our masses.