The federating units have agreed to include early childhood education, teacher induction process, examination reforms and use of information technology in education for deliberation in the next agenda of Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC). This was stated by State Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Eng Baligh-ur-Rehman, while briefing media persons here on Thursday regarding deliberations and discussion held in the 10th IPEMC on the concluding session of the two-day event.
The minister, who is also the chairman of IPEMC while highlighting the importance of forum for bringing improvement in education sector, said that the platform would help reach federating unit a common line of action for the development of education sector in the country.
He said that ensuring co-ordination among provinces is responsibility of the federal government, adding "We gathered here with a collective aim to make headway in education sector by deriving benefits from sharing mutual experiences through the forum. Amidst political differences, we stand united for the cause of education and are committed to setting the national direction for education and making consensus based policies and decisions for the national objective of accessible and quality education for all," he said.
Among the agenda items, the forum discussed non-formal education system and acknowledged its significance as a cost-effective mode of increasing accessibility of education and improving the literacy situation in the country. The minister said that the forum has agreed to promote the use of non-formal mode of education. He said that the federal government is already operating around 18,000 non-formal schools across the country and the forum has agreed on the need to improve the capacity of current schools as well as to increase the number of non-formal education setups in the country in which both federal government and federating units will scale up the efforts. "The forum has agreed to promote all four components of non-formal education - community supported primary education, adult literacy, accelerated learning and vocational training - and apportion a reasonable portion of budget for the same in the respective education budgets," he added.
Baligh-ur-Rehman informed that participants also discussed matters relating to private schools and while appreciating the role of private sector schools in supporting the cause of education, the forum also agreed that the state should play its role in safeguarding the rights and interests of parents, teachers and students and protect them from a few exploiting elements in the private sector. He said that the forum appreciated the legislation approved in this regard by some provinces and acknowledged the need for other units to have similar rules and regulations in place soon. "A committee has also been formed through this forum for co-ordination among federal and provincial governments on this matter," he added.
He said that forum also discussed examination and assessment system and expressed its concerns over examination conducted on the basis of rote learning. He informed that the examination system would be revamped to discourage rote learning and a better system that promotes 'conceptual learning' will be proposed at the next meeting of this forum.
Participants also discussed National Education Policy 2017 and agreed that a finalised version of the policy would also be presented in next meeting of IPEMC, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, KP Minister for Elementary Education Muhammad Atif Khan appreciated the endeavours of Baligh-ur-Rehman for taking all federating units along and said that the role of IPEMC has increased significance for national co-operation on education after devolution of this subject.
Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Education, Muhammad Ibrahim Senai said that IPMEC has integrated people of the country on a common agenda of promoting education. Appreciating Baligh-ur-Rehman for his commitment, he said that remarkable results have been witnessed in Gilgit-Baltistan during last two years by the galvanization of IPEMC under the leadership of the state minister.
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Elementary and Higher Education, Iftikhar Ali Gilani said that despite political differences, concerted efforts are being made by all stakeholders to improve education system in the country. He said, "We should focus on improvement of public sector educational institutions as it would pave way for resolution of socio-economic challenges."
Balochistan Minister of Education, Abdur Rahim Ziaratwal said that media should play its role for promotion of education, besides creating awareness among people to educate their children. He said that it is need of the hour that budget allocations should be increased for education and a proper strategy should be devised for training of teachers who are entrusted with the task of character building of children.