‘Efforts being made to address education sector challenges’

Islamabad:Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain on Tuesday highlighted three major challenges of education sector including out-of-school children, learning standards and learning lost during Covid-19, stated that the government was making efforts to address these problems.

He was speaking at a conference organised by the Islamic World Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO) on Global Perspective and Challenges for Metaverse Technologies. Federal Minister said that we face three major challenges. Firstly, the need to bring out-of-school-children into school.

Secondly, the need to improve learning for those already in school, and to address the learning lost in the Covid-19 pandemic. Finally, we need to make an education system resilient to emergencies, such as the recent floods, and to increase access through technology.

Rana Tanveer said the current devastating floods are a reminder of the huge challenges Pakistan faces, from climate change to meeting its educational needs. He said that these challenges are not unique to Pakistan or developing nations, they are global. The whole world must grapple with the potential inequality that will come from Industry 4.0 and new frontier technologies, including the metaverse.

He said that globally, ‘frontier technologies’ such as robotics, AI and the metaverse present huge potential investment opportunities. Already this market is worth $350 billion, and could grow to over $3 trillion by 2025. He said that for countries such as Pakistan, new technologies present valuable opportunities, especially given our young and growing population. Our people are our greatest asset and if they can be given the education and skills, they need to utilise new technologies they can be a huge engine of economic growth for Pakistan. The minister said new technologies also present opportunities in education itself.