Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the government had established the Pakistan Education Endowment Fund to support children from low-income families to obtain higher education.

The announcement comes months after PM Shehbaz declared an education emergency in the country and vowed to get around 26 million out-of-school children enrolled.

According to Abdullah A. Fadil, the representative for United Nations Children’s Funds (Unicef) in Pakistan, over 70 per cent of children aged 10 in Pakistan could not read or understand text.

In a meeting with Oxford Union President Israr Khan Kakar at the PM House today, the prime minister said that a 20pc quota will be allocated for the youth of Balochistan under the newly established fund.

The premier lauded Kakar on winning the Oxford Union election in June, when the former became the third Pakistani and first from Balochistan to hold this prestigious position.

The Oxford Union, founded in 1823, is one of the oldest and most esteemed debating societies in the world.

PM Shehbaz expressed the hope that young people like him would continue to make Pakistan proud.

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“Winning scholarship throughout the academic career and then his election as president of a great body like Oxford Union by a youngster coming from a backward area of Balochistan is a matter of pride,” the premier highlighted.

Inviting him to address the Oxford Union, Kakar thanked the prime minister and his government’s efforts for “youth empowerment and providing them equal opportunities”.

“All of the youth like me, are resolved to offer all-out services for Pakistan’s progress and prosperity,” Kakar asserted.