Education policy to be reviewed: Ahsan

ISLAMABAD—Minister for Education, Ahsan Iqbal said Wednesday the draft of national education policy would be reviewed to make it more receptive to contemporary and future trends for achieving national prosperity. “The draft of national education policy would be studied, again, in consultation with heads of all the political parties and provinces to ensure that it is immune to frequent and un-necessary changes”, observed the minster in an interview with APP, here.
He said though the government did not intend to undo all the initiatives taken by the previous government for the uplift of the education sector, but these would be studied to ensure that they were compatible with the present day’s challenges. He said education sector, unfortunately, in the country, could not receive due attention in terms of sufficient budgetary allocation for it, thus, he added, he would make efforts to work on this front. When his comments were sought about the role of Deeni Madaris, the minister said, mostly, they were contributing invaluable services for the healthy development of the society, however, he added, there was always room for improvement.
Cognizant of the fact that education played pivotal role in the country’s development, he said, the government was committed to vigorously carry forward its agenda for improving the quality of education to achieve national prosperity.
He underlined the need for making concerted efforts to end class based education system in the country and make quality education accessible to every citizen of the country irrespective of sex and social status.
He said that elimination of class based education and promotion of quality education at every level would be his top priority. He said that all resources would be utilized for the promotion of uniform and higher education and research culture would be inculcated in educational institutions.
Ahsan Iqbal said those nations that lacked behind in quality education could not make progress. He said teachers played a pivotal role in preparing students for development of the country, so the more training programmes would be held to polish their skills for the benefit of students. He said that the government was committed to equipping teachers with modern teaching skills in order to fully capitalize on the newly-revised curriculum. He said that government would take all possible measures to resolve teachers’ problems and restore their status as an important entity of society.
Replying to question, he said that during the next two years every institution would be provided with computer lab and a science teacher to promote research based knowledge for achieving national prosperity. Similarly, he said that network of educational institutions would be expanded to every nook and corner of the country and it would be ensured that there was institution for male and girls at each union council.

—APP