The government on Friday launched a campaign "100 percent enrolment for literacy" by becoming guardian of an eight-year out of school boy following his admission in a school on the eve of World Literacy Day.
Federal Education Minister Lieutenant General Javed Ashraf Qazi (Retd) formally kicked off the drive by signing the admission form and handing over textbooks to the child Zafarullah, who was enrolled at F G Boys Secondary School, Jhang Sayaden, a village in the suburbs of Islamabad.
The government officials, students, teachers, and representatives of the international donor agencies and a large number of people attended the ceremony.
Addressing the gathering, Javed Ashraf said that the revised national curriculum drafted by the ministry would bring new concepts for socio-economic development of the country. Substandard education being imparted to the students would see improvement after implementation of the revised curriculum, he added.
Giving details about the revised Islamiyat curriculum, the minister said that from class three to eight, it is mandatory for students to complete the recitation of the Holy Quran besides thorough knowledge about Islamic injunctions. In the revised curriculum, advanced Islamic studies had been introduced for the students who wanted to become religious scholars, he added.
"We are becoming a nation of illiterates with over 50 million-children who cannot read or write. The presence of 50 million illiterate pushes Pakistan at the bottom in educational standing among the comity of nations," Javed Qazi regretted.
He said the government had to wage a crusade against illiteracy by diverting a major chunk of resources to the education sector for achieving 85 percent literacy by 2015, and called upon the parents to make up the minds of their kids towards getting technical education as Pakistan lacks skilled manpower.
The minister said that 32 schools of the Islamabad Capital Territory would be equipped with all the basic facilities by the end of this year and held out an assurance that the public educational institutions of the capital would be made a role model for rest of the country.
Qazi also issued a warning to the teachers, saying he would support teachers in genuine grievances but would not tolerate political manoeuvrings in the ICT's educational institutions. About the new examination reforms, the minister said that from the next academic year the question papers would comprise 50 percent short questions and 20 percent multiple choice questions.