Accounting for time: Education managers milking foreign travel opportunities

Official says two trips per month becoming norm

ISLAMABAD: Most of the senior management at the country’s education ministry is currently outside Pakistan, reportedly for international meetings, conferences and workshops, at the cost of policy and management affairs.

The culture of foreign visits at the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training has increased over the last few months. According to one ministry official, “Two visits per month has become a norm for the minister and other staff.”

Minister of State Balighur Rehman on Wednesday left for a general conference of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). The 36th session of the council is underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, and will continue till November 27. The ministry secretary was already in Baku for the same event. Meanwhile, Additional Secretary (AS) Allah Baksh Malik is in Bangkok for a three-day UNICEF workshop on education.

Similarly, Joint Secretary Fazale Hakim and Academy of Educational Planning and Management Director Nasir Hameed are also in Bangkok for the UNICEF workshop. Moreover, AS Malik will leave for Senegal and other destinations after Bangkok.

Joint Education Advisor Rafiq Tahir is visiting universities in Australia with members of the Higher Education Commission.

On Tuesday, Establishment Secretary Nadeem Asif took serious notice of meetings where there was only a deputy secretary to represent the ministry. “[Senior officials], at minimum joint secretary level officers from the education ministry should ensure their presence in this meeting,” he was quoted as saying by a junior Establishment official saying.

Interestingly, the touring officers are not required to submit reports on activities, or policy decisions undertaken during their foreign tours. Since devolution, the ministry has become largely redundant and has invited the ire of provincial education ministers.

Efforts by these ministers to bring all parties on the same page about certain issues have not borne fruit, as Sindh has abstained from most of meetings of the Interprovincial Education Ministers’ Conference (IPEMC). The body has been inactive for the last few years, but since 2013, quarterly meetings have been held. This has also witnessed opposition from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on certain options offered by the federal ministry. After many efforts, Sindh has agreed to participate as an observer.

After much deliberations and reluctance, IPEMC approved the formation of a National Curriculum Council in October last year, without any decision from Sindh.

The ministry has also silently accepted defeat on the Millennium Development Goals on education, while signing the Sustainable Development Goals in October. For the latter, a body has been formed which has met only once.

When contacted, the minister said these foreign visits were important for the ministry as policy and other issues were discussed.

“These visits will not be [as frequent] from now,” Rehman added.

Regarding ISESCO and other visits, the minister added that Pakistan was a member of important global bodies, so attending their meetings is always helpful for the ministry.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th,  2015.