ISLAMABAD: Senior bureaucrat Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik, a BPS-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), will retire tomorrow (Monday) on reaching the age of superannuation.
During his prolonged career spanning over 35 years, Dr Malik served in different positions and earned the sobriquet of “educator to the poor” due to his role in the promotion of education.
As the managing director of the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), Dr Malik revamped the organisation and introduced the “education voucher scheme (EVS)” for the children of urban slums and under-served areas. He also introduced important reforms in Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC), School Education Department, Punjab, and established Youth Affairs, Sports, Archaeology & Tourism Department (YASAT) in 2011.
Dr Malik received many accolades in recognition of his services. In 2011, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) conferred the prestigious Confucius Award on him in recognition of his leadership role for the promotion of education and skills-development for less-affluent and disenfranchised sections of society.
Chinese government awarded him a “Certificate of Merit” in recognition of meritorious services for the promotion of affordable quality education for the impecunious strata. The British Council appointed him the British Alumni Ambassador for promoting education and skills in youth.
Federal health secretary until recently, Dr Malik is also the recipient of Charles Wallace Trust Fellow in public policy, governance and economic development at SOAS University of London. He was a visiting scholar at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City.
He has been widely published by the national and international journals and is the author of thirteen books on education and management. He holds a Ph.D. in Development Economics, Public Finance and Resource Mobilisation and MPhil in Economics and Politics of Development from Cambridge University.
