PM’s package: Upgrading FG schools will take at least a decade

FDE officials blame delay on shortage of funds, inadequate infrastructure and untrained teachers.

ISLAMABAD:

It will take at least ten years to convert all federal government (FG) educational institutes into model institutes under the Prime Minister’s package announced last year. In the first phase, the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) plans to upgrade just 50 institutes.

The prime minister had announced the upgradation of all FG institutions in rural and urban parts of the city to model institutions. Even though their names have been ‘upgraded’, the facilities and standards of education in these schools are yet to improve.

An official in the FDE said that the directorate is not in a position to upgrade all the FG institutions at once due to shortage of funds, poor infrastructure, and untrained teachers. It will take at least ten more years to bring all the FG institutions at par with the model ones, the official added.

The 50 institutes chosen to be upgraded in the first phase are all from the urban parts of Islamabad, the official added.

Presently, there are 400 federal government and 20 models educational institutions in Islamabad — there is a heavy burden on the model institutions due to the higher standards and better facilities. Unfortunately, these institutions lack the capacity and physical infrastructure to absorb growing demand as there are simply not enough seats for the number of potential students.

There is quite a difference between the two categories of institutes, as the qualification of a primary teacher at a model school is at least BA or BSc with BEd. In contrast, the requirement for a primary teacher in FG schools is only intermediate. This disparity in standards would be removed once these institutions are upgraded.

Teachers at FG institutes have long demanded that these institutes be brought at par with the model ones with equal facilities.

An FDE official said that the directorate has trained around 800 teachers from FG institutions to bring their qualifications at par with those required by model institutes.

According to official data, more than 200,000 students in the federal capital are enrolled in government schools and colleges — 98,000 boys and 104,000 girls.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2011.