Congress may pass $200 million bill for Pakistan in health and education sectors: Rocca

US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca on Tuesday appreciated Pakistan's educational policies and assured co-operation between the two countries for further improvement of education.
Talking to Federal Education Minister Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf (Retd) she said US Congress was likely to pass a dollar 200 million bill for the health and education sectors.
She assured assistance of the Bush administration and USAID to country's educational sector and termed the Pak-US co-operation in education as a pillar of bilateral relations.
Rocca who deals with the South Asian Affairs expressed satisfaction with the pace of progress of the Ministry to improve education system in the country and for making it accessible to all particularly those in the remote areas.
The envoy hoped Pakistan would soon achieve the "Education for All" target, owing to the revolutionary steps the country was taking.
Qazi briefed Rocca about the projects and plans evolved by the Ministry and their implementation to the grassroots level. He said the government was making all efforts to improve basic education in the country.
He said the current budgetary allocations for the education sector were a record in country's history and were aimed at introducing new concepts in the system.
The education minister urged both the international partners and the donor agencies, including USAID, to continue their support and assistance for Pakistan's education sector.
He said all international donors including UNICEF, JICA, DFID, UNESCO and USAID were satisfied with the disbursement of grants and aid given to the ministry.
He briefed her about the steps being taken by the government to make education accessible to all in the country and hoped to meet the target of Education for All by 2015.
He also briefed the envoy about introduction of human rights education in schools and establishment of science labs in FATA schools.