Slight increase: Rs64 billion earmarked for education sector in PSDP

National Plan of Action not mentioned.

ISLAMABAD:

The government has budgeted Rs64 billion for education in the fiscal year 2014-15, an eight per cent increase over the previous year’s Rs59 billion.

Although education was devolved under the 18th Amendment, the federal ministry is focusing on the development of teachers’ capacity and technical education in collaboration with provinces.

The federal government is launching 32 new schemes for development of education in the Public Sector Development Sector Programme (PSDP). Of these, five schemes worth Rs406 million are for capacity building of teacher training institutes and training of elementary school teachers in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Another 23 schemes for construction, establishment and upgradation of schools and colleges have been allocated Rs913 million.

For literacy through Basic Education Community Schools and National Commission for Human Development, Rs2.7 billion have been allocated.

Meanwhile three schemes under the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education have been allocated Rs125 million.

State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman’s keen interest in curriculum and examination reforms has yielded a healthy allocation. The PSDP carries Rs50 million for the National Curriculum Council (NCC). Besides, for modernisation and standardisation of the examination system, about Rs25 million has been allocated.

Mainstreaming of madressas will have to work with an allocation of Rs50 million.

On the international agreements front, to improve human development indicators in Pakistan with focus on the Millennium Development Goals relating to education and six Education For All (EFA) goals, Rs1.442 billion has been allocated.

The government, however, has not mentioned any details about National Plan of Action (NPA). The Rs188 billion plan aimed to enroll 5.1 million children between ages five and nine from 2013 to 2016. The plan, also called the MDGs Acceleration Framework, was compiled in collaboration with the provinces.

HEC gets its highest ever allocation

Amid talk of devolution, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has gotten it’s highest-ever development budget allocation of Rs20 billion in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2014-15, an increase of Rs2 billion from last year.

In the previous fiscal year the government announced Rs18 billion in the PSDP for HEC for 154 new and ongoing projects. The government released about Rs14 billion for those projects, while the HEC utilised Rs 10.35billion, or 70 per cent of that amount.

Separately, the federal government has also announced it will distribute 100,000 laptops costing Rs4 billion for “talented” students pursuing PhD and Ms degrees in public sector higher education institutes.

According to the PSDP documents, among the new projects is the establishment of University at Sibi for Rs35 billion and establishment of University of Swat for Rs10 million. The government has otherwise focused on development and improving existing higher education institutes.

About Rs500 million has been allocated for the establishment of a public health institute and institute of nursing at Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah, Benazirabad.

Meanwhile, Rs100 million has been allocated to upgrade National Institute of Science and Technical Education, Islamabad into Pakistan’s first skills university.

Besides, Federal Government Girls College F-7/2 in Islamabad will be upgraded to a women’s university for about Rs80 million. The government is also planning to establish a regional HEC centre in Quetta for Rs10 million.

At the same time, Rs190 million will be spent on establishing “seerat chairs” in all public sector varsities.

Scholarships

Overseas scholarships for Ms and Mphil leading to PhD in selected fields will be funded to the tune of Rs1.2billion, Pak-USAID merit and needs based scholarship programme will get Rs361 million, and Japanese need-based scholarships have been allocated Rs1 million.

The PSDP also carries Rs178million for 1,000 Cuban scholarships for studies in general comprehensive medicine, the equivalent of an MBBS degree. Meanwhile, 100 scholarships for Bangladeshi students in the fields of medicine, engineering and IT were allocated Rs3 million, while Rs45 million has been set aside for 400 scholarships in the fields of medicine, engineering and IT for students from Indian Kashmir.

PhD scholarships in social sciences, arts and humanities will total Rs10 million, while masters leading to PhD scholarships, both indigenous and overseas, for students from Balochistan have been allocated Rs240 million.

Faculty development

The indigenous PhD fellowship programme for 5,000 scholars has been allocated Rs700 million, while another fellowship for 5,000 PhD fellows will get Rs500 million. The provision of higher education opportunities for students from Balochistan and the Federally Administered Areas has been allocated Rs120 million.

Another Rs75 million has been marked for the foreign faculty hiring programme, while the short term foreign faculty hiring programme will get about Rs 37 million.

Similarly, in the ongoing development projects, Rs355 billion has been allocated for the establishment of University of Turbat, Rs100 million for University of Loralai and Rs200 million for establishment of a women’s university in Multan.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2014.