Significance of PPPs for inclusive education
Across the globe, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly perceived as an appropriate policy approach
The writer is an educationist with experience of implementing inclusive education by involving both public and private sectors
Inclusive education is schooling for a vast majority of children within a mainstream system, where children with certain disabilities get the opportunity and supportive environment to study, play and grow along with normal students in the same classrooms.
In 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aimed to end poverty, tackle inequalities and combat climate change. As a global partner, Pakistan is required to mobilise existing and additional resources to achieve these goals along with capacity-building of its line departments to move further in the right direction.
However, it is regrettable to note that more than 32 million children with different disabilities are out of school in developing countries. Being out of education denies this group the likely ability to make friends, learn how to read and write and master skills that are crucial for future employment. According to a survey conducted in 1998 in Pakistan, more than two million children of school-going age have some sort of disabilities. Out of these, more than 1.5 million children are suffering from mild disabilities. These children can be rehabilitated to take full part in life by placing them in mainstream schools.
Across the globe, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly perceived as an appropriate policy approach to provide education for all in many different contexts. By partnering with the private sector, governments can expand their education systems in more efficient and effective ways. For this and other reasons, many governments are establishing and including PPPs frameworks within their educational systems.
In Pakistan, provision of quality education is the constitutional obligation of the state in accordance with Article 25-A.The government of Punjab has partially succeeded in providing access to quality education to the school-age children of both public and private sector schools. Through the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), the province has successfully introduced the PPPs framework in the education sector by engaging private sector school owners.
In Punjab, there are more than 0.8 million children with special need of school-age, whereas education services are being provided to almost 45,000 children by different public and private sector organisations.
The Punjab government is striving for improvement in the quality and governance of the education sector, which is marked by Punjab Education Sector Project-II. The Special Education Department has launched two pilot schemes under the Punjab Inclusive Education Project and Voucher Scheme for Inclusive Education at PEF schools by promoting PPPs with the PEF covering seven pilot districts.
These pilot projects executed by the Punjab Special Education Department on inclusive education are covering both public and private education sectors in almost nine districts of Punjab. During implementation, thousands of children are screened for identification of disabilities and referred for enrollment to special education centres and public and privately owned general schools. By introducing inclusive education in the public sector, the education sector has achieved an increase in enrollment of children with disabilities attending schools within two years (2015-2017) along with other inclusive education provisions.
In order to foster inclusive education in low-income developing countries like Pakistan, there is a dire need that the government of Punjab should further promote special education as well as inclusive education through PPPs by engaging the private sector community based organisations. The government should also stimulate the private sector organisations as well as community based indigenous models to join hands in development and implementation of different initiatives covering the assistive services and procurements in different fields of special education and inclusive education across Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2017.
In 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aimed to end poverty, tackle inequalities and combat climate change. As a global partner, Pakistan is required to mobilise existing and additional resources to achieve these goals along with capacity-building of its line departments to move further in the right direction.
However, it is regrettable to note that more than 32 million children with different disabilities are out of school in developing countries. Being out of education denies this group the likely ability to make friends, learn how to read and write and master skills that are crucial for future employment. According to a survey conducted in 1998 in Pakistan, more than two million children of school-going age have some sort of disabilities. Out of these, more than 1.5 million children are suffering from mild disabilities. These children can be rehabilitated to take full part in life by placing them in mainstream schools.
Across the globe, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly perceived as an appropriate policy approach to provide education for all in many different contexts. By partnering with the private sector, governments can expand their education systems in more efficient and effective ways. For this and other reasons, many governments are establishing and including PPPs frameworks within their educational systems.
In Pakistan, provision of quality education is the constitutional obligation of the state in accordance with Article 25-A.The government of Punjab has partially succeeded in providing access to quality education to the school-age children of both public and private sector schools. Through the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), the province has successfully introduced the PPPs framework in the education sector by engaging private sector school owners.
In Punjab, there are more than 0.8 million children with special need of school-age, whereas education services are being provided to almost 45,000 children by different public and private sector organisations.
The Punjab government is striving for improvement in the quality and governance of the education sector, which is marked by Punjab Education Sector Project-II. The Special Education Department has launched two pilot schemes under the Punjab Inclusive Education Project and Voucher Scheme for Inclusive Education at PEF schools by promoting PPPs with the PEF covering seven pilot districts.
These pilot projects executed by the Punjab Special Education Department on inclusive education are covering both public and private education sectors in almost nine districts of Punjab. During implementation, thousands of children are screened for identification of disabilities and referred for enrollment to special education centres and public and privately owned general schools. By introducing inclusive education in the public sector, the education sector has achieved an increase in enrollment of children with disabilities attending schools within two years (2015-2017) along with other inclusive education provisions.
In order to foster inclusive education in low-income developing countries like Pakistan, there is a dire need that the government of Punjab should further promote special education as well as inclusive education through PPPs by engaging the private sector community based organisations. The government should also stimulate the private sector organisations as well as community based indigenous models to join hands in development and implementation of different initiatives covering the assistive services and procurements in different fields of special education and inclusive education across Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2017.