Education reforms in National Education Policy

Education Task Force to Implement Education Reform

Islamabad, Dec 22: Pakistan Task Force on Education will work to increase the capacity of the federal and provincial governments to implement the education reforms set out in the National Education Policy (NEP).

The official sources informed that the task force was approved by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on the recommendation of Education Ministry.

It will support the federal and provincial ministries and prioritize and identify clear goals for improving the school system and set targets for improvement and cascade them out through the system.

The Task Force recently held a two-day meeting to look into the ongoing status, performance and capabilities of various stakeholders. The meeting focused on private and public sector partnership to remove disparities and implement a uniform education system in the country. It called on devising an effective mechanism to ensure the up-gradation of the educational system and meet modern day requirements.

Advisor to PM on Social Sector and Co-Chairperson of the Task Force Shahnaz Wazir Ali told this agency the task force has been given responsibility of upgrading the education system and devising a mechanism to address the issues of equity, quality and governance. The task force will focus on implementing the targets set in education policy toward achieving 85 percent literacy rate by 2015.

She said that private sector is contributing a lot in education sector and equipping the students with the latest educational facilities but public sector is lagging behind due to negligence on the part of previous governments.

She emphasized on adopting special measures to control the dropout rate and said private and public partnership can jointly bring positive reforms in the education sector. Shehnaz Wazir Ali and Sir Michael Barber are the Co-Chairs of the Task Force.

While other members include Secretary education, Saba Gul Planning Commission, Representative from Ministry of Finance, Chairman NCHD, Secretary of Schools from Balochistan, NWFP, Punjab and Sindh.

Secretary of Education, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan, Director (Education), FATA. Dr. Muhammad Memon, IED, Karachi, Shahid Kardar, Former Minister of Finance, Punjab, Dr. Fareeha Zafar, Society for Advancement of Education, Lahore, Mehnaz Aziz, Children Global Network, Islamabad.

Ahsan Saleem Member on Board of Director, Citizen's Foundation, Representative of Religious Education, International Expert nominated by USAID and International Expert nominated by DFID, UK. APP