Senate body for updating curriculum
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—The Senate Standing Committee on Education, Science and Technology which met here Saturday in Parliament House with Senator Mrs. Razina Alam Khan in the chair has underlined the need for reviewing and updating the curriculum according to the changing needs of time.
The Committee made the observation while having a detailed briefing on formulation of curriculum council and curriculum review.
The Committee was informed that curriculum development is an ongoing process and new concepts would be presented in a more appropriate manner.
It was further informed that consultants/experts have been appointed who will work in collaboration with the Provincial Text Book Boards, Curriculum Research Development Centres, teachers and other stakeholders to update curriculum in line with our requirements. The Committee was also given a detailed presentation on the working, performance and achievements of Training Wing of the Ministry of Education.
Lt, Gen (R) Javed Ashraf Qazi, Federal Minister for Education admitted that literacy rate in the country is not satisfactory and said the Ministry is going to carry out an education census in all the four provinces to apprize itself of the real situation.
He told the committee that funds have been allocated and evaluators have been trained to carry out the survey. He said that data collected would be duly computerized. He said that as the number of middle and high schools is less than our requirement, it results in the drop out of students from going beyond primary level.
He stated that vocational training centers at district level and technical colleges at provincial levels would be set up to provide professional training to those who fail to attend schools and colleges.
Regarding missing facilities at various schools, the Minister said that army would be involved to provide infrastructure facilities at the provincial and district level as per requirements of the District Governments. The Members of the Committee appreciated the Government for increasing the budgetary allocation for education sector to four per cent of the GDP and remarked that this would go a long way in improving the standard of education.
The meeting was also attended by Senators Mrs, Tahira Latif, Prof. Muhammad Saeed Siddiqui, Mrs. Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, Dr. Muhammad Said, Maulvi Agha and Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, Secretary Education, Sajid Hassan and senior officers of the Ministry were also present.