One nation: ‘Uniform education system needed to improve quality’

BAHAWALPUR:

“The government wants to overcome flaws in the educational system. A uniform education system would benefit the entire country,” said Federal Minister for Education Mian Balighur Rehman on Friday.

He said the government was mulling putting a ban on teachers transfers. He said 80,000 teachers had been appointed to meet a shortage of educators.

He was addressing a seminar organised by the SPARC.

He said on October 15, an action plan to improve education will be provided to the provinces.

Bahawalpur Islamia University Vice Chancellor Saleem Tariq Khan said in his address that the SPARC had undertaken an initiative to highlight problems in rural areas.

He said teachers formed the backbone of the education sector.

“Our education system is based on a colonial apparatus,” he said. “We cannot match European standards of education with such scarce resources.”

SPARC founder Anees Jillani said Pakistan would not prosper without a sustainable education policy.

He said Pakistan was lagging behind in research.

“It is also commonly known that public schools lack basic facilities,” he said.

“This has a drastic impact on the quality of education our children get.”

He said elected representatives of the people should send their children to public schools to set an example. “This is the only way the government would understand the gravity of our education problem.”

MNA Sabiha Nazeer said the government was taking steps to provide missing facilities at campuses.

She said the Punjab government had built boundary walls, toilets and classrooms.

MPA Syed Wasim Akhtar said that government departments should specialise in their respective fields.

“When an officer from the Agriculture Department is made head of the Education Department, how can we expect consistent outcomes?”

A presentation on research on comparison between public and private schools was also shown to participants.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2014.