Education for all: ‘Punjab should take lead on 25-A’

Unesco official tells female teachers to push for fair pay.

LAHORE:

Punjab should lead the way for the other provinces in implementing Article 25-A of the Constitution, which makes education free and compulsory for children from the ages of 5 to 16, said Dr Kozue Kay Nagata, the Unesco director in Islamabad, on Thursday.

Dr Nagata was speaking at a conference organised by the Literacy and Non Formal Basic Education Department in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) at the Children’s Library Complex, to commemorate World Teachers Day.

She urged the Punjab government to quickly formulate a legal framework for the implementation of Article 25-A. “The legislature should serve to speed up the process, which is now a fundamental right according to the Constitution of Pakistan,” she said.

“I believe this is the first event in the province to celebrate the World Teachers Day,” she said about the conference, which was held six days after the day was commemorated on October 5. In Punjab, the government was criticised for not arranging any event to mark the day, something which was largely left to teacher unions, independent bodies and some schools.

Dr Nagata said the purpose of the day was to honour teachers for their role in empowering people through knowledge. She said it was essential that the working conditions of teachers be kept under check to ensure their welfare.

Speaking about a recent global trend, she said more and more women were becoming teachers, but this posed a concern in regards to wages. She said the income of female teachers was often considered to be a supplement to that of the male members of their family.

“This mindset can result in lowering of wages for people involved in this honourable profession,” she added. Though this had not happened in Pakistan yet, she said it was vital to understand that though it was positive that more women were becoming teachers, it could have adverse effects on the well being of teachers in general if it resulted in lower wages.

Compulsory Education Commission Chairman Justice (retired) Khalilur Rehman Khan said teachers must realise that they had a moral responsibility to their students. “A teacher not only gives knowledge to a child, but also a vision,” he said. He said teachers should ask themselves if they are equipped with the latest knowledge to teach young minds.

“Each one of us here owes their success to a teacher. Let’s celebrate their struggle,” said project director Shaheera Shahid, while speaking at a ceremony themed, ‘Best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book’. She said the best teachers give children confidence, a thirst for self-improvement, and the ability to question and seek knowledge.

JICA country head Chiho Ehashi talked about the importance of non formal education, saying it allowed older people to learn from younger teachers. “The beauty of a non formal learning environment is that both teachers and students respect and learn from one another,” she said.

Ehashi said the JICA, in collaboration with Unesco and the Literacy Department, was working on the capacity building of teachers and ensuring a minimum teaching standard in the non formal education sector.

Literacy Secretary Dr Pervez Ahmad Khan said that any non formal teaching methodology which was workable at the grass roots level should be implemented. He stressed the need for implementing flexible mechanisms that allowed non formal learning in every step up, depending upon the conditions for which they were practical for the people of the area.

Later, some 35 teachers working in non formal education in Lahore, 16 from Sheikhupura and five from Kasur were awarded certificates by the department. These teachers, trained by the Literacy Department, had set up schools offering non formal education to children and adults in their localities.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2012.