For Pakistan, education is the key to ensuring social justice

The importance of schooling cannot be overstated. Not only has the expansion of primary and secondary education been linked to accelerated economic growth, poverty eradication and improved income equality, but education also appears to be closely associated with social enrichment and inclusion, the upgrading of human capital, increased opportunities, and enhanced freedom and welfare. That is why, as Pakistan's prime minister, I have placed universal access to education very high on the national agenda.

Above all, education enables people to think critically and question established wisdom, thereby enabling them to rise above prejudice, myth and restrictive historical legacies.

In this sense, education is a major driver of social progress. And it is the key to fulfilling my promise, made when I took office two years ago, to create a new framework for social change that ensures equal opportunities and social justice for everyone and stops the exploitation of the poor and harnesses their potential.

The Oslo Summit on Education for Development starts on Monday, and I remain firm in my commitment to securing the right to a high-quality education for every child in Pakistan - especially for girls, who have long faced high barriers to education. But considerable obstacles remain.

Nearly six million Pakistani children who should be in school are not, and many more are not learning even basic mathematics or reading skills. Dropout rates are high. And worst of all, terrorists have been targeting schools, blowing up their buildings and threatening their teachers.

My government will not allow Pakistan's schools - so vital to our country's future - to become targets of terrorism. Education is the most important investment we can make in our most precious assets - our children - and we will not tolerate even the slightest threat to it.