Govt working to bring uniformity in education system: PM

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the National Education Policy Framework (NEPF) is being devised to bring uniformity in existing fragmented apartheid system of education. He vowed that the objective is to create a nation and to put in place a system which is ‘fair’ and ‘produces Pakistanis’.

He chaired a briefing on NEPF here at Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Wednesday. The briefing was attended by Federal Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood, Punjab Education Minister Murad Rass, Adviser Education KP Ziaullah Bangash, federal and provincial secretaries for education and senior officers.

The Minister for Federal Education & Professional Training gave a detailed presentation on the National Education Policy Framework identifying various challenges vis-a-vie out of school children, education apartheid, quality of education and skill development issues. He said that NEPF is being formulated with an objective to ensure that all children have a fair and equal opportunity to receive a high quality of education in order to achieve their full potential.

Highlighting the contours of the NEPF, the Minister said that optimum utilisation of the existing infrastructure, employing technology solutions, improvement in non-formal education systems, attracting quality teachers and incentivizing the education were some of the measures in the proposed framework that would significantly help enhancing school enrolment and addressing the issues of out-of-school children. The Minister also suggested establishment of a National Curriculum Council for the purpose of engaging and creating broad consensus among stakeholders for common standards of education across Pakistan.

Education Minister Punjab Murad Rass and Adviser Education KP Ziaullah also briefed the Prime Minister about the future roadmap in education sector and highlighted various short, medium and long-term measures to introduce qualitative change in the education sector.

The Prime Minister appreciated the effort being done at federal and provincial level. The Prime Minister emphasized that skill development of the youth should be especially focused so that the immense potential of the youth could be effectively utilised.