A roundtable on "Education Governance" was organised here to highlight the importance of government and media partnership in enhancing accountability, besides, to discuss the current state of education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The roundtable discussion was attended by key stakeholders from the education sector organised by Mishal Pakistan, a non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with ILM Ideas (a 3-year UKaid funded program) in Peshawar. The objective of ILM-o-AGAHI initiative is to improve accountability and media coverage of priority education issues and build consensus on education policies by engaging stakeholders, including media and policy makers.
According to Mishal Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) manifesto advocates allocation of 5 percent of GDP for education. The Economic Survey of Pakistan (2013-2014) states that the enrolment rate has improved to 91 percent in the year 2012 to 2013 as compared to 89 percent in 2011 to 2012 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mushtaq Ghani was chief guest.
Ghani said that the incumbent PTI-led coalition provincial government is taking steps to ensure transparency in education governance through effective implementation of the KP Right to Information (RTI) law.
The Minister said the government has declared education emergency in the province, adding that a campaign was carried out for enrolment of more than 0.35 million students in the government-run schools in the province.
Muhammad Arif, Deputy Director Elementary and Secondary Education, Azam Khan, District Education Officer Peshawar, Zahir Shah, senior journalist, Nasir Hussain, former president press club and representatives of the non-governmental organisations, educationists and the journalist community attended the roundtable.
"The Right to Information Act passed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial assembly in 2013, has further strengthened the constitutional rights of citizens, empowering them to hold government officials accountable", said Puruesh Chaudhary, Director Mishal Pakistan, while facilitating the group discussion. Education is the key to cultivate peace and rule of law in society, she added.
Asif Malik, Assistant Registrar COMSATS University Islamabad, also spoke on the occasion.
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