PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has ordered a combined Independent Monitoring Unit (IMU) for both health and education sectors to improve the system. He was presiding over the 4th stocktaking meeting on the reforms initiatives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in the higher education here at the Chief Minister's Secretariat, said an official handout.
Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ghani, head of Strategic Support Unit, Sahibzada Saeed, Secretary Higher Education Zafar Ali Shah and others attended.
The meeting was briefed about the proposed, urgent and decisive actions for strengthening of Bachelor of Science Programme, strengthening of colleges, leadership and management training programme, establishment of quality and governance support unit in higher education department, progress on the establishment of women university Mardan, installation of biometric system, initiatives under the KP Chief Minister Education Endowment Fund, transport facility for teaching staff. The participants reviewed the decisions of the third stocking meeting. The chief minister agreed to the proposal of land acquisition for the women university in Mardan and the identification of different spaces for it.
The chief minister said the monitoring system of elementary education should be replicated to streamline both the health and higher education sectors. He agreed to different proposals for new BS classes launching in the public sector colleges and added that his government would go all-out for the upgraded system of education in the province.
Pervez Khattak directed to widely publicise the decentralization of colleges and get the recommendations of all segments of the society. He said presently, the noble intentions of decentralization and giving autonomy to the public sector colleges were being criticized by the government opponents for political gains.
Pervez Khattak said the wrong allegations were being levelled by the forces which drew strength from the old and rusty system of education.
"In the given circumstances, the award of degree is a mere joke and the old system of education was understandably of no use, serving no purpose. Therefore, the government decided to upgrade the system of education to bring absolute dynamism with approved system of monitoring and evaluation. This was done so that the new system could start producing quality and educated youth to run the system and in the process bring improvement in all sectors," he explained.
The chief minister directed for the extension of biometric system to all colleges throughout the province to ensure the presence of teachers. Teachers willfully keeping themselves absent did not deserve to draw their salaries, and therefore there should be a system to deduct their salaries for being absent, he added.
The chief minister said the system of monitoring developed for the elementary education should be replicated, classes streamlined and the BS program promoted and even the students who are weak in their study should have a tuition facility in the evening.
Meanwhile, the chief minister presided over another meeting on upgrading of different healthcare centres, improved healthcare facilities, optimum utilisation of healthcare units and removal of grievances of the poor patients at local healthcare centre.