Innovative solutions urged to address education deficits

Islamabad
A one-day education conference titled ‘Pakistan Innovation Corridor’ held here on Tuesday emphasised on embracing new innovative solutions for addressing education deficits in the country following the global practices.
‘Pakistan Innovation Corridor’ is a platform for showcasing transformational work undertaken by a range of Pakistan based education institutions innovators and activist who have developed effective solutions to create access to quality education in partnership with Ilm Ideas.
Secretary Education Trainings and Standards in Higher Education Muhammad Imtiaz Tajwar as a chief guest on the occasion said education is a big challenge which can be addressed by leveraging the full potential of public and private sector together.
He said around 5.6 million children were out of school and the government through its efforts and support of other partners brought down this figure to 5.1 million.
The government is now targeting to enrol these 5.1 million out of school children to bring improvement.
Imtiaz Tajwar congratulated the organizers of this high level impact programme and assured to extend the support of federal government for this cause of improving literacy.
The conference was attended by regional and international education experts who shared their views on global education innovation trends and experiences in tackling education deficits in their respective countries.
The Pakistan Innovation Corridor brought together practitioners educationists academics media and policy makers from within the country and the region to think through the challenges in new ways and learn from global best practices.
The conference consisted of sessions to discuss solutions and approaches for improving education quality retention and learning outcomes along with workshops and spotlight sessions on specific theme such as evidence based policymaking social entrepreneurship in education and innovative education products and services developed by Ilm partners.
Team Leader Ilm Ideas programme Zehra Zaidi reiterated the critical need for out of the box solutions for addressing education deficits in the country focussing on the need for innovative interventions in crisis hit or conflict affected populations in the country.
Speaking at the conference Ms Zehra said that Ilm Ideas under the Education Innovation Fund was successful in piloting and testing of 33 innovative education solutions in the country which have demonstrated potential to change education outcomes. .
She added “We must learn from and replicate excellent regional examples of education for all Pakistani children.”
Deputy Head and Head of Basic Services Group DFID Ms. Judith Herberston in her closing remarks said all of promising work showcased at today’s event show the immense potential and expertise that Pakistan possesses to address the significant education challenges facing the country including access to quality education and improving learning outcomes.
Ilm Ideas has helped create a platform to focus on sustainable and innovative solutions however the government and other partners need to embrace new solutions and consider different ways of delivering quality education to make a difference to education system and children.
The conference featured prominent speakers including Dr Rabea Malik and Dr. Faisal Bari from IDEAS Ameena Saiyad from Oxford University Press Irfan Muzaffar from Education and Social Research Collective Adeel Aslam from Education Fund for Sindh Monazza Aslam, Naeem Zamindar and Hammad Umar from Acumen Fund.
The other speakers were Imran Sarwar from Rabtt Qasim Aslam from The History Project Faisal Mirza from Aman Sports Maryam Mohiuddin from Social Innovation Lab Mehnaz Aziz from Global Children Network Baela Jamil from ITA Aban Haq from Ilm Ideas Nadine Murtaza from Dheere Bolo and Isfandyar Inayat from The Citizen Foundation.
The event also featured interactive education marketplace with 25 education service providers showcasing their solutions to a variety of potential clients and public.
Pakistan ranks 113 out of 120 countries in the Global Education Development Index and innovative solutions are needed to overcome challenges faced by the country in education sector.
It has also the second highest out of school children population of which 30 percent are primary school aged girls and 64 percent children are from the poorest households.
Among those who do not make it to school a large proportion of children are at risk of drop out.
Around a quarter of children who reach Grade V cannot read sentences 50 percent of the boys and 60 percent of the girls cannot read sentences in Urdu 62 percent of the girls cannot do basic division.