Recently, the ministry released a “National Plan of Action,” containing data provided by provinces for devising a strategy to gradually enrol 5.1 million out-of-school children across Pakistan this year. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
After devolution of power to provinces, opposition lawmakers question the justification for a federal education ministry. The Council of Common Interests (CCI) is likely to take up the function and role of the education ministry for discussion in the first week of October, according to sources.
The CCI in June this year renamed the department as the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education, the third time its name has been changed after the landmark 18th Amendment.
“We’re just assisting the provinces but the ministry should stay with the federal government as it’s unlikely that international donors would contact provinces to make commitments to the cause of education in the country,” claimed an officer in the education ministry, requesting anonymity.
The Supreme Court in its judgment on November 25, 2011, had maintained that under Article 25-A of the Constitution, the federal government could not absolve itself of the responsibility of providing education to its citizens.
The CCI has constituted a committee under the federal law minister to look into the role of the federal government vis-à-vis education in light of constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court judgment.
Recently, the ministry released a “National Plan of Action,” containing data provided by provinces for devising a strategy to gradually enrol 5.1 million out-of-school children across Pakistan this year.
The federal education ministry is currently looking after technical institutes including the National Commission for Human Development and the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC).
According to the ministry’s website, it thrashes out policies, plans and programmes for ensuring mass education and integrated professional, vocational and technical training in sync with national needs and international requirements.
During a hearing of the Senate Standing Committee on Education on September 10, senators grilled the education minister and asked him to answer why there was still a federal education ministry when it had become a provincial subject after devolution of power to the provinces.
State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman had stated that education and health were federal subjects everywhere in the world and devolution may result in national disconnect. In reply, ANP Senator Afrasiab Khattak had remarked that they debated the issue for months before devolving it to the provinces after the 18th Amendment.
“Calling it a federal subject means reverting it to the centre,” Khattak had said. Rehman and Khattak had also exchanged hot words and the ANP senator had alleged that the current government was trying to retain the education and health ministries.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2013.
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