Education should be top priority of the nation, and it should be duly reflected in the allocation of resources for the education sector. However, the proposed federal and provincial budgets 2009-10 show a measly approach towards education. These views were expressed by speakers at a roundtable on "Profile of Education Budget for 2009-10," held here under the auspices of Pakistan Institute of National Affairs (PINA).
They were of the view that legislators should recognise the pivotal role of teachers in education system and provide them a congenial environment for high quality teaching by bringing an end to contract system, ensuring promotion on seniority-cum-efficiency basis, and bringing their service structure in line with the civil services.
Mian Muhammad Akram, a Professor of Economics, highlighted the challenges faced by the education sector. He said the major challenge was inadequate funding for research, training facilities for teachers and educational managers, scholarship grants for deserving students, uplift packages for teachers as well as lack of basic facilities at schools such as electricity, toilet, school boundary and clean drinking water. This situation could be improved by allocating 4 percent of GNP to the education sector, as required by UNESCO, he added.
He further said it was equally important that the allocated budget was completely utilised. The procedure of previous year when 30 to 50 percent of the allocated budget had lapsed should not be repeated, he added. The provinces should also earmark substantial resources to ensure quality education and higher literacy rate, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Professor Mumtaz Akhtar, Director IER, University of the Punjab, called for a uniformed system of education in line with national aspirations. She was of the view that the country could achieve high academic standards by investing in teachers' education, especially at college level.
Rector of the University of Management and Technology (UMT), Dr Hassan Suhaib Murad, called upon legislators and educationists to come up with visionary initiatives for streamlining educational system within the framework of the Constitution. Human resource development was the key to ensure optimal educational standards, he observed.
Altaf Hasan Qureshee, Secretary General PINA, observed that due to faulty vision of decision makers educational system of the country had un-proportionately tilted towards market-oriented disciplines.
He said the country needed more engineers, technicians and market managers, but at the same time the nation needed philosophers, economists, social scientists, politicians, men of letters and researchers in basic sciences who were in dearth these days. He also observed that women education should be given top priority.
Appreciating the views of the participants, Ashraf Sohna, Provincial Minister for Labour said, "In the present turbulent situation, the nation is looking forward to a soft revolution, which can be ensured only through education, and there should be focus on primary education."
He called upon educationists to keep playing their role in nation building despite socio-economic hardships. Professor Tauqeer Ahmad Sheikh, who chaired the roundtable, emphasised that commercialisation of education was the main cause of socio-economic injustice in Pakistan. Education was the responsibility of state, and every child had the right to learn, he added.
Seasoned bureaucrat Rahmat Ali Mujahid suggested that education budget must be released in the middle of July and headmasters, principals and heads of departments be given autonomy and proper training for utilisation of funds. Mumtaz Salik, Engineer Anwar Hussain Mujahid and Professor Rao Jaleel Ahmad also spoke on the occasion.
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