The experts of a two-day National Education Conference (NEC) on Tuesday called upon the government to check the trend of commercialisation in education for providing equitable opportunities to every student.
Speaking at a two-day NEC convened to discuss ways and means to improve the dismal state of education in the country through effective planning and management, participants said the increasing commercialisation in education had made it an expensive commodity, marginalising the majority of the population.
More than 150 delegates, experts and specialist in educational governance, management, curriculum, textbooks, teachers' education and assessment are participating in the conference.
Discussing the pathetic state of education system, the participants called for radical changes in the prevalent education system that has bitterly failed to deliver. The education budget needed to be increased, they added.
The findings of the conference would be incorporated during the review of the National Education Policy, which the ministry claimed to complete by June 30th and announce in August.
Minister for Education Javed Ashraf Qazi, who blamed devolution plan for further deterioration to the already dismal education system, underlined the need for an early overhauling of the whole system from primary to higher level.
He said that unnecessary interference of Nazims led to further complication in the education system. As a result, the performance of 16 colleges had sharply declined, he added.
The Minister called upon the experts to lay down a time frame for regular review of the education policy to meet the growing demands of the industry and incorporate latest changes in it.
He deplored that more than 20,000 schools in Punjab had no facilities like drinking water, boundary wall, and toilets. The same is the situation in the other provinces, he added.
The Minister said that Pakistan stood among most illiterate nations with low literacy and high drop out rate. "A UN report on education rates Pakistan at number three from the bottom among the member countries. Should we be proud that only two African countries are below us in the list", he said.
He said 45 percent dropout rate at primary level was due to many reasons. "We are paying salaries less than the domestic servant to teachers. What can you expect from a matriculate teacher," the minister said.
He said flawed examination system, a number of boards that offered multiple choices to the students were also contributing to poor education in the country. He was of the view that there should be uniformity in the examination system at least in every province.
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