NA body for legislation to bring devolved education department, back to ministry. PHOTO: FILE
Members of National Assembly Standing Committee on Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education on Monday agreed that the institutions and related departments under the education ministry which were devolved under the 18th Amendment should be returned to the centre.
In its first meeting, the committee reviewed the functions and performance of Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education (ETS).
“The decision to devolve education was a mistake and was done in haste, with many of its parts distributed in ministries and other offices at federal level and others devolved to the provinces,” said State Minister for ETS Balighur Rehman.
Since the reestablishment of the education ministry in 2011 under Supreme Court orders, it has been renamed thrice and is still struggling, Rehman added. Upon this, committee chairperson Gulzar Khan asked the minister about the rationale behind devolution if steps were now being taken to undo it.
The minister replied that the provinces were already working on several issues and only the curriculum was devolved to them, while the rest of its departments and bodies were distributed to federal bodies.
ETS Secretary Ahmad Bakhsh Lehri said that several subjects that were previously under the education ministry were moved under the Capital Administration and Development Division, Planning and Development Division, Economic Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments.
Pakistan National Commission for UNESCO Secretary General Amna Imran also lamented that following the devolution, they were facing difficulties, especially with the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, which needed urgent protection as it was feared that after hit by floods in 2010, the site may be destroyed.
Following the presentation of all the bodies under the ministry, a member Shaista Pervaiz pointed that there were a number of overlapping of functions among different commissions.
Rehman replied that they were reviewing the issues and functions of these bodies and addressing each independently.
The minister also talked of the national curriculum commission for coherence and cohesiveness across the country. The members agreed and the chairperson urged one of the members to move a motion in the National Assembly to bring all the devolved education-related subjects still at federal level under the umbrella of the education ministry.
A member, Muhammad Rehan Hashmi, asked about the permanent appointment of Higher Education Commission chairperson and problems caused by this. Acting HEC chief Imtiaz Gilani stated that there was not any issue and no work has been halted, while Rehman, the minister, added that the appointment was a prerogative of prime minister and in the meanwhile, a person is already there to handle day-to-day affairs.
The chairperson of the committee asked the HEC acting chairperson whether any of the 18-member commission’s seats were vacant. Gilani admitted there were some vacant posts and on January 21, a commission meeting would convene meeting to discuss the issue.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2014.
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