Achieving 90 percent literacy rate under 'Vision 2025' a distant dream: Senate body

To achieve literacy rate of 90 percent in accordance with 'Vision 2025' is a distant dream, as literacy rate in less-developed areas of the country is less than 30 percent in male and 15 percent in female, but still such areas are facing a step-motherly treatment from the policymakers. The figures were presented before the Senate Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas, which met with Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar in the chair here on Thursday.
The committee met to discuss the performance of the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) in less developed areas and Fata. "It is a joke to raise the literacy rate to 90 percent as per the Vision 2025. The ratio cannot be increased even by 2056 in the less-developed areas. Literacy rate in less-developed areas is still less than 30 percent while the ratio is less than 15 percent for female," said the committee chairman.
Kakar said injustice was being done to those areas and instead of giving attention to increase the literacy rate there, developed areas had been given more focus and priority.
He said the number of schools under the NCHD in Punjab was 1,500 while 200 in Balochistan. The number of these schools is lesser in Tharparker, Rajanpur and FATA but greater in Nawabshah and Rahimyar Khan. As compared with Shangla, a less-developed area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the number of NCHD schools is greater in Abbottabad. Moreover, 16 such schools are operational in Karachi as well.
The committee chairman said that operating schools in greater number in developed areas as compared to the less-developed areas was equal to committing injustice with the poor. The province of the Prime Minister is enjoying privileges the most; however, this inequality and injustice should be done away with.
The committee expressed annoyance over cut in the NCHD budget. The government is not focusing on increasing education budget. The fact is that the less-developed areas of the country are rich with natural resources but still they are facing poverty. The committee recommended for increasing NCHD budget immediately, saying the financial and administrative affairs of the Commission should also be reviewed. Chairperson NCHD Razina Alam Khan informed the committee that the number of feeder schools in less-developed areas was 5,949 and the criteria for operating a school was less than 50 percent literacy rate in the area.
The number of such schools is 1,649 in Punjab, 356 in Sindh, 419 in Balochistan, 82 in KP, 50 in GB, and 146 in AJK. She further said that Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had approved 12,000 literacy centres with the ratio of 70 percent for less-developed areas and 30 percent for developed areas. Along with education, training would also be provided to students in these centres.
Senator Samina Abid said that mothers should also be imparted with education in the far-flung areas. Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini said the number of such schools in less-developed areas like Sherani, Awaran and Washok was not given in the list. The chairperson NCHD said those schools were being built as per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with provincial governments and in such areas where governmental and non-governmental schools did not exist. Core committee and Planning Commission had conducted a joint survey across the country, she added.
The committee expressed annoyance over the absence of Secretary Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training while saying the ministry was not giving attention to promote education in the less-developed areas as it was evident from the absence of ministry officials from the committee meeting. It was further observed that Secretary of the Ministry and other officials did no consider themselves accountable to the Parliament.