15th Annual Convention - People's Agenda for Transforming Education: From Silos to Systems

PCE's 15th Annual Convention was a milestone: it coincided with the coalition's 20th anniversary, twenty years of connecting community voices to national policy. Under the theme People's Agenda for Transforming Education — From Silos to Systems, it focused on collaboration and on mainstreaming marginalised voices toward an inclusive, forward-looking education system. The rallying call: Educate, Elevate, Empower.

The convention opened with an inspiring address by Zehra Arshad, National Coordinator of PCE and Executive Director of SAQE, who provided historical context on PCE’s 20-year journey and its commitment to youth engagement in education advocacy. She said:

"For the past few years, we have been making an effort to include a session at our convention that is youth-related, youth-generated, and youth-led. Education sector challenges cannot be solved in isolation. For systemic transformation, a collective approach is crucial"

"We must equip youth with the tools, give them direction to lead policy change. It is important to have an intergenerational dialogue in Pakistan where their perspectives are taken seriously."

Her remarks set the foundation for an engaging and robust discourse.

Sessions & discussions

• Reimagining Education: A Youth-led Blueprint for Systemic Change — Youth Policy Moot

The first session, "Reimagining Education - A Youth-led Blueprint for Systemic Change," was entirely youth-led, participatory, and designed to: (i) Equip young participants with a deep understanding of education challenges, policy processes, and systemic gaps, enabling them to actively take part in policy advocacy. (ii) Mobilize youth to develop innovative strategies, foster intergenerational dialogue, and develop consensus on a youth-driven education charter, and (iii) Facilitate the creation of policy storyboards, ensuring youth voices translate into concrete, actionable reforms that address quality, access, equity, and skill development in education.

This session was led by Urwa Naeem - Senior Program Officer, Research & Advocacy. It comprised of a learning segment followed by youth-led policy storyboards exercise which engaged participants through a hands-on activity in creating storyboards detailing their vision for education reforms. Participants were divided into four groups.

Group 1: Quality & Access

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Group 2: Gender & Inclusion

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Group 3: Learning Environments

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Group 4: Skill Development

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Each group created detailed storyboards and presented their ideas, showcasing creativity, and a deep understanding of systemic challenges

• Youth Education Charter

The final session was dedicated to the Youth Education Charter, a comprehensive youth-led reform framework outlining policy demands and commitments for a more inclusive, equitable, and effective education system - developed by SAQE in consultation with young people. Participants were invited to endorse the charter, which outlined actionable recommendations to address Pakistan’s education crisis. The endorsement process at the convention was designed to validate youth-driven policy priorities through democratic engagement.

• RIGHT, EDUCATION, and JUSTICE: Empowering Youth to Build a Peaceful Future

Following the storyboard presentations, Advocate Supreme Court Mr. Junaid Akhtar Chohan, delivered a lecture on Rights, Education, and Justice: Empowering Youth to Build a Peaceful Future. He underscored the critical link between education and justice, stating: “The government is responsible for ensuring free and compulsory education under Article 25-A, but policy implementation remains weak.”

He regarded corruption and lack of accountability as key barriers to education reform and further stated that education must not just be for employment but for civic participation and critical thinking. Participants engaged actively in this session, posing though-provoking questions that Advocate Chohan addressed.

• Citizen's Agenda for Gender-Responsive, Inclusive and Resilient Education — Policy Discussion

The second session of PCE's 15th Annual Convention was themed “Citizen’s Agenda for Gender-Responsive, Inclusive, and Resilient Education.” The session began with the launch of SAQE's white paper titled "Education Emergency in Pakistan: An Urgent Call to Action." Ms. Zehra Arshad, the Executive Director of SAQE and National Coordinator of PCE, presented the key findings and recommendations of the paper.

This was followed by a panel discussion on effective allocation and efficient spending, focusing on pragmatic solutions to address the challenge of 26.2 million OOSC. The dialogue focused on the themes of gender, inclusion, equitable education financing, resilience, and skill-based education.

The speakers emphasized ensuring the right to education for every child as a fundamental right and a development priority. They further stressed that Pakistan’s education system must undergo a transformative shift, aligning with evolving market trends by focusing on enhancing learning and teaching quality, ensuring universal and inclusive access to education, and adopting long-term evidence-based policies.

The education budget remains significantly below the global benchmark of 4-6% of GDP and must be scaled up sustainably as a key priority. Additionally, increasing the share of development budget is crucial to create fiscal space for modernization and systemic transformation.

Inconsistent policies, weak implementation and lack of localized education policy planning continue to hinder effectiveness of education policies. Additionally, political instability and frequent policy shifts driven by short-terms political goals further exacerbate the crisis. Thus, the speakers urged for unified political commitment to education through the adoption of a “Charter of Education”, ensuring long-term, sustainable, and consensus-based education reforms.

Key remarks

• Huma Chughtai (MNA): ensuring access under Article 25-A is the state's primary responsibility; she urged gender-responsive budgeting to expand girls' access.

• Haris Khalique (President, SAQE Board): education must be treated as a core human-rights issue, not just a development target — inequalities in access mirror the country's broader disparities.

• Dr. Shahid Soroya (DG, PIE): a dire need to generate evidence to guide policy; scale up investment in research, teacher training, and digital classrooms.

• Ali Kemal (Chief SDGs, MoPD&SI): alongside more investment, fix leakages in allocation and spending; universal birth registration can help account for out-of-school children.

• Sana Isa (Gender & Safeguards Lead, MoFEPT): a holistic, inclusive approach for girls and children with disabilities; rebuild trust in public schools through better curricula, WASH, and digital infrastructure.

• Dr. Faisal Bari (Dean, School of Education, LUMS): enrolment matters, but learning quality must stay central — millions of enrolled children still can't read or count.

Policy Recommendations

• Increase education financing to a minimum of 4-6% of GDP and beyond in a sustainable manner while ensuring efficient utilization of resources.

• Increase the share of development funds

• Optimize public financial management to increase education allocations and improve fund utilization, enhancing efficiency and transparency.

• Enhance equity, inclusion, gender responsiveness, climate resilience in education system, focusing on improving quality, learning and continuous development of teachers’ skills and competencies.

• Strengthen local governance and school management to improve accountability and service delivery.

• Strengthen early childhood learning to develop a strong foundation of learning for children.

• Increase investment in research and evidence generation to guide effective policy development while strengthening linkages between academia, industry, research institutions and policy makers.

• Strengthen technical and vocational education (TVET) to ensure youth are equipped with employable skills.

• Ensure devolution of education policies transcends beyond provincial level to district and UC level, empowering communities and amplifying their voices in policy planning.

• Enhance engagement of civil society and youth in public policy forums to ensure that policies reflect the needs of the people.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE CONVENTION

CELEBRATING PCE's 20TH ANNIVERSARY!

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20 YEARS OF BRIDGING POLICY & COMMUNITY VOICES

Alongside the convention - Education Financing & Tax Justice (two-day CSO Learning Event, with the TaxEd Alliance) A two-day training for coalition members on tax justice, progressive taxation, and what they mean for education financing.

•  see Capacity Building & Trainings

Watch & see: [livestream link]

[photo gallery] 

[media coverage] 

[White Paper link]