Call for forming national body to address education emergency

“With 45 per cent of Pakistan’s children out of schools, the country’s education indicators were not in the least satisfactory even before the pandemic. And now, in its aftermath, our education system has experienced a further major setback,” said senior journalist Zarrar Khuhro.

He was moderating an online dialogue, titled ‘Let’s Talk Education: Priorities, Pandemic & Beyond’ and organised by the Pakistan Youth Change Advocates (PYCA) as part of its #InvestInEducationStrengthenPakistan campaign. Senior political representatives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh who participated in the event included KP Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education Ayesha Bano and Sindh lawmaker Sharmila Faruqui.

MPA Ayesha spoke about the efforts made by the KP government to ensure access to education for every out-of-school child in the province, with a special focus on bringing more girls to schools.

“In the recently announced provincial budget, the highest allocations were made under education and health. The number of out-of-school girls is higher than boys in our province; hence, 70 per cent of the education development budget has been allocated to focus on girls’ education.

”We have also introduced community schools and voucher schemes so out-of-school children, especially girls, can be accommodated in private institutions with the help of government funding.”

She also shed light on the challenge of street children and children with autism. “We have passed a resolution to ensure that a psychologist or counsellor is housed in every school of the province.

“Close to 1,000 existing teachers have already been trained to identify children with learning disabilities so they can be provided the special attention and support that they need. We have also introduced the Zamung Kor initiative, which aims to make education possible for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s street children.”

As for Sindh, according to official statistics, nearly 40 per cent of the children of school-going age in the province are not in schools. Highlighting the provincial government’s efforts to mitigate this situation, MPA Sharmila said: “With the help of the Sindh Education Foundation we have developed clusters of community schools. These schools are run by the community and a monthly stipend of Rs450 is given to the families for enrolling their daughters and Rs350 for enrolling their sons.”

She also stressed the need for forming a national task force or a body similar to the National Command & Operation Centre to address Pakistan’s education emergency.

“We have to protect our children the same way we protect our nuclear assets. A national committee with representation from the federal and provincial governments must be formed so we as a country can take collective steps to address this education crisis.”

Sharmila said the pandemic has had a direct fall-out on Pakistan’s frail education system, adding that the worrisome situation demands a consistent increase in the education development budget, and political oversight to ensure they are effectively spent on education-related initiatives for which they were earmarked in the budget announcements. She said the federal and provincial governments must also immediately begin investing in hybrid and alternative learning solutions to make Pakistan’s education system resilient against future shocks.