Barber said that teacher and student attendances had both increased from 81 per cent and 83 per cent to 92 per cent. PHOTO: FILE
Punjab has achieved several milestones in student enrolment, availability and functionality of facilities, in teacher quality and student and teacher attendance, said Sir Michael Barber, the Department for International Development (DFID) special representative on education for Pakistan, at the Lahore University of Management Sciences here on Tuesday.
Barber discussed the salient features of the Punjab Education Reform Roadmap. The talk coincided with the launch of Barber’s essay titled ‘The good news from Pakistan.’
Barber said the title of his essay was selected to portray the progress made in the education sector. He said the timing was intended to present the outcomes of the roadmap so that whichever political party comes in power in the future understands the significance of the initiative.
“Every [Pakistani] politician I have met recognises that education is a neglected area and was supportive of the roadmap,” he said.
Having prepared the roadmap for education reform in 2010, Barber began implementing the plan in January 2011, a month after Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif gave him his approval. The roadmap focused on improving enrolment, attendance and learning outcomes besides strengthening the Punjab Education Foundation and the district administrations to ensure appointments on merit.
“Just yesterday (March 25) in a meeting with the chief minister and the chief secretary I informed them that all those targets have been met,” said Barber.
Outcomes
Barber said that teacher and student attendances had both increased from 81 per cent and 83 per cent to 92 per cent. He said approximately 1.5 million more children were now enrolled in schools as a result of the roadmap implementation.
He said availability of school facilities like toilets, drinking water, boundary walls and electricity had increased from 69 per cent to 91 per cent.
He said as many as 37,000 more teachers were now attending school and executive district officers for education were being appointed on merit. Barber said as many as 140,000 children were being facilitated under the voucher scheme for children from humble backgrounds.
“This is the fastest growing voucher scheme of its kind in the world,” he claimed.
Challenges and lessons
Barber said for girls aged between 5 and 9 years’ school enrolment was still only 67 per cent. “The floods [in 2011] did not change the ground reality for schools. The situation had gotten worse and work had to be done,” he said.
Barber said there had been considerable improvement under the roadmap for education reform but the transformations were not sustainable yet.
“It is not yet irreversible and if we stop pursuing it, the momentum will be lost,” he said.
He said, “This is a partnership between two countries and is not about money.”
Barber said by April this year every student would have a textbook on every subject and by September teachers in government schools would have access to coaches for their teaching.
School Education Secretary Aslam Kamboh said the student and teacher attendance of Punjab could now be compared to that of any country of comparable economic conditions. He said that the foreign aid component was not more than 6 per cent of the education budget. Singer Shahzad Roy also spoke about his experience of hosting a TV show about the school education system of the country. Roy sang songs including the title song of his show.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2013.
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I guess no PTI attacks would be coming over here
Does it surprise me that the education sector is improving in Punjab? It's the only province in Pakistan where there has been improvement the last 5 years and remains the only province which is stable.
When parties are fully engrossed in electoral process; political parties appear hungry to grab points to improve their list of achievements to lure their voters. In this scenario, if even you have purely good intentions for sharing success stories to celebrate your achievements, but there are always questions. Therefore, publishing and disseminating such kind of report appreciating and apprising only one person can be called a tactical and tacit support to influence the electoral process. The same report criticizes the other two provincial governments not being serious; while, the other donors' reports are appreciating them. We have yet not forgotten the World Bank's report on Ch: Pervaiz Illahi's achievements which appeared before Election 2008. By and large, any single improvement in education sector must be appreciate, acknowledged and celebrated.
Full report available here: http://www.reform.co.uk/content/20419/research/education/thegoodnewsfrompakistan
The timing is such because the target date for reforms was March 2013. During the discussion, it was emphasised that in addition to physical improvements such as enrollments and teacher presence and provision of facilities, learning outcomes are being measured as an outcome of improved quality of teaching, which is also one of the target areas under the roadmap. The Roadmap started during Shahbaz Sharif's tenure but it is still ongoing and needs further work, which is why it is crucial that the next provincial government give it the focus and committment seen from the previous one.
Also, the point is not to empower the CM but rather to ensure that EDOs are meeting the targets for their districts.
It is one of the poetic report, I have ever read. I am also skeptical of the timing of report. It dominantly talks on enrolment, attendance and reducing teachers absenteeism. Almost ignores the improvement in Quality of Learning outcomes. The report moves around the then CM Punjab who enjoyed concentrated powers. Not sure, what kind of power culture the author wants to promote in Governance in Education in Pakistan.