Lahore: The Central Shura (consultative body) of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan has expressed serious concern over the country's energy and education crises, calling for immediate reforms to ensure energy self-sufficiency, affordable electricity, and a transparent governance system, along with increased education spending and the introduction of a uniform quality-based education system. In separate resolutions, the Shura said energy and education were the foundations of national development, economic stability, and social justice. However, weak governance, inconsistent policies, and inefficient utilisation of resources had pushed both sectors into a severe crisis. In its resolution on the energy sector, the Shura urged the government to ensure that by 2035, 65 percent of the country's installed power generation capacity comes from local sources, including hydropower, nuclear energy, renewable resources, and Thar coal. It also called for reducing dependence on imported fuels by 30 percent within the next decade. D eclaring energy as a basic right of every citizen, the resolution demanded affordable electricity tariffs for households and small businesses and called for the abolition of the petroleum levy. It stressed that electricity supply to lifeline consumers should be ensured at affordable rates and proposed increasing the share of renewable energy in power generation to 40 percent by 2040. The Shura called for reducing circular debt by 50 percent within five years, bringing transmission and distribution losses below 10 percent by 2030, and ensuring greater transparency in the energy sector. It also demanded a review of the 'take or pay' agreements with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), renegotiation of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, modernisation of refineries, increased investment in oil and gas exploration, promotion of solar energy, upgrading of transmission lines, and expansion of electricity and gas access to rural areas. Regarding education, the Jamaat-e-Islami Shura expressed concern that around 26 million children remain out of schooldespite constitutional guarantees, while the country's literacy rate stands at around 62 percent and female literacy at 52 percent. The resolution noted that Pakistan spends only 1.7 to 2 percent of its GDP on education, far below international standards, while thousands of public schools lack basic facilities, teachers, and teaching resources. The Shura demanded full implementation of Article 25-A of the Constitution, which guarantees free and compulsory education for children aged five to sixteen years. It called for gradually increasing the education budget to 4 to 6 percent of GDP, filling vacant teaching positions on merit, and ensuring continuous professional training for teachers. The resolution also called for the gradual implementation of Urdu as a medium of instruction in accordance with Article 251 of the Constitution and relevant Supreme Court decisions, while ensuring equal opportunities for candidates to appear in competitive examinations, including CSS, in Urdu. The Shura demanded a review of the large-scale outsourcing of government schools, provision of basic facilities including clean water, electricity, furniture, laboratories, libraries, sports facilities and digital resources in educational institutions. It also called for scholarships, free textbooks, transport facilities, and school meal programmes to reduce dropout rates among children facing economic hardships. It further stressed reforms in curriculum, examination systems, and teaching methods to replace rote learning with research, critical thinking, creativity, character building, artificial intelligence (AI), digital skills, scientific research, technical education, and entrepreneurship. The Central Shura reiterated Jamaat-e-Islami's commitment to struggling for an energy system based on self-reliance, transparency, social justice, and public welfare, as well as a uniform, quality-oriented and research-based education system aligned with Islamic values to help build a developed and prosperous Pakistan.