Senate committee hails govt’s work on education policy

Foreign scholarships including 172 for doctorate and 204 for M. Phil awarded to students of Balochistan since 2012

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training has lauded the government's initiatives to launch National Education Policy Framework aimed at achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on education during the next four years.

The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training met here at the parliament house with Senator Rahila Magsi in chair.

The meeting was attended by Senators Najma Hameed, Nouman Wazir Khattak, Prof Dr Mehr Taj Roghani, Syed Muzzafar Hussain Shah, Muhammad Akram, Mushahid Hussain Syed and Federal Education and Professional Training Minister Shafqat Mahmood along with senior officers from ministry, HEC and Quaid-i-Azam University.

The federal education minister informed the committee that since 2012 a total of 376 foreign scholarships were awarded to the students of Balochistan of which 172 were for doctorate and 204 for M. Phil.

The committee chairperson stressed the need to improve quality of research and its applicability and connection with socioeconomic issues in Pakistan focusing Balochistan.

Senator Magsi emphasized that education was highly important for the growth of a society and prosperity of the country and efforts must be made to ensure its quality.

Education and Professional Training Minister Shafqat Mehmood informed the panel that ministry was focusing to address three main areas, which included enrolling 25 million out of schoolchildren in the educational institutes, introducing uniform education system across the country and ensuring provision of quality of education. The committee was told that the new education policy, which is likely to be announced in the next three months, would focus on these areas and provide guidelines for achieving the desired results.

The committee also discussed the agenda on the Area Study Centre (Amendment Bill 2017).

During the briefing, Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah said that the Area Study Centre was established with the aim to conduct research especially in the department of foreign affairs.

He demanded that the centre should be given a separate status from the education ministry and should be administered by the foreign ministry.

The senators endorsed Shah’s suggestion and maintained that it should function as an independent institution.

Senator Shamim Afridi proposed the establishment of a separate campus for the women at Kohat University of Science and Technology.

The committee sought a detailed report from the KUST vice chancellor on the subject.