Omar Cheema, representing PTI, said his party would allocate 5 per cent of GDP for education. PHOTO: FILE
LAHORE:
Representatives of 10 political parties signed a 10-point declaration on Tuesday pledging support for improving the state of education in the Punjab.
The declaration came in an all-parties consultation Elections 2013: Challenges and Opportunities in Punjab Education Sector organised by the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences in collaboration with Alif Ailaan.
The declaration included clauses on legislation in support of Article 25-A and its implementation in the province within three to four years. It also included clauses for provision of resources in compliance with Article 25-A, an increase in budget for in-service teacher training and funds for school facilities.
The participants agreed on all points except the point about block grants not exceeding 25 per cent of the budget.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz did not sign the clause having to do with block grants citing technical issues. PTI representative Omar Cheema said the issue needs to be delegated by experts while PML-N’s representative Dr Saeed Elahi said block grants were necessary to tackle emergency situations.
Salman Humayun, the ISAPS executive director, said in spite of spending Rs156 billion on education, the learning outcomes of students were poor according to the 2011 assessments.
He said there were almost 9.3 million out-of-school children in the province. He said according to the Punjab Monitoring and Implementation Unit 751 schools lacked roofs, 20,000 schools electricity and 8,600 toilets. Nearly 1,500 school buildings were dangerous.
Speaking Legislation in support of the Article 25-A (Free and compulsory education for children in the 5 to 16 years age group), Hamayun said no law had been moved in provincial assembly despite a passage of 35 months.
He said the failure to move Punjab Education Commission’s draft and a bill submitted by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s Chaudhry Zaheeruddin reflected ‘poor political will’.
He said out of the Rs15 billion development budget for 2012-13 only Rs6.7 billion had been released till April 2013.
Saeed Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League-N said the establishment of 13 new degree colleges and six Danish Schools in the province reflected the priority given to education by his party.
He said the government had distributed 350,000 laptops and 400,000 solar lamps amongst students in the province. He said that Rs2 billion was spent on setting up computer labs in high schools in the Punjab.
Hafiz Abubakr of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam said education policies should be formulated in accordance with the society’s cultural and religious values.
He said, “Education policies in particular are heavily influenced by foreign elements and are aligned to their interests,”
Neelam Husnain of the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians said Urdu should be the medium of language in all provinces. But Waqas Anjum Jafri of the Jamaat-i-Islami said local and regional languages should be promoted to help students understand concepts.
Ahsan Wyne of the Awami National Party said multiple educational systems should be abolished as they perpetuated class differences. He said the ANP had no objections to madrassas but hoped that sciences and history be also taught there.
Abdul Sattar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q said only a few had benefitted from Danish Schools.
Omar Cheema, representing PTI, said his party would allocate 5 per cent of GDP for education.
Mobin Qazi of the Qaumi Watan Party said without penal provisions compulsory education would be impossible.
Hashim Bin Rashid of the Awami Workers’ Party said certain groups in political parties were an obstacle to legislation to hold the private education sector accountable. He also said each province had its own culture that must be respected.
Mian Abdul Waheed of the Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz-i-Pakistan stressed the need for a single curriculum for all. He said the government must employ existing infrastructure.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2013.
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