NA standing committee on education: Transfer to provinces termed ‘disastrous’

Committee claims teaching in regional languages will hurt national integrity.

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly standing committee on education said that devolving the education system to the provinces would be a disaster for the integration of the country.

In a meeting on Monday, the committee said it would send a proposal to the implementation commission for retaining the subject with the centre and incorporating it in the proposed 19th Amendment Bill.

Chairperson Abid Sher Ali said the education ministry should brief the committee on December 22 regarding issues that are likely to emerge after devolving the education system to the provinces.

In light of the briefing, the committee will prepare recommendations for the implementation commission, the chairperson said. “We are here to watch out for the national interest, irrespective of party affiliation,” Ali said.

He added that the committee thought it would damage national integrity if each province began teaching in its respective regional language. “Education is key and should help bring uniformity among the federating units, rather than encouraging the introduction of teaching in regional languages,” said Ali. The federal secretary education proposed that there must be a uniform education system and syllabus across the country.

The committee chairperson added that provinces like Balochistan can not handle education system on their own and any abrupt transfer will only create further difficulties for them.

Ali also directed to summon a meeting of all provincial education secretaries for a briefing about issues faced by the provinces. The chairperson said that sub-committees should expedite their work on pending legislation bills and send them to the National Assembly to get them passed as early as possible.

He said as many as five legislative bills are pending with the standing committee since the last two years, including the Compulsory School Attendance Bill-2008, Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill-2010 and Islamabad Capital Territory Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Promotion) Ordinance-2101 which need to expedited.

He said that the bills should be completed and forwarded to the National Assembly soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2010.