Islamabad - Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms has allocated Rs1 billion for bringing all the 29 boards of intermediate and secondary education in the country at par with the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Chairman FBISE Dr Ikram Ali Malik disclosed on Sunday.

Out of total allocated amount, Rs500 million has been released to the FBISE for up-gradation of all other boards while the remaining amount would be released in 2018, the chairman said.

Malik said that the amount was released after satisfactory up-gradation and provision of modern facilities in the federal board. “The Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms expressed satisfaction on the project of modernisation and standardization of examination system of the FBISE and desired to replicate the same for all other boards of intermediate and secondary education in the country through another project titled “National Education Reforms Initiative”, he added.

He said that the FBISE would supervise up-gradation process of other boards as a focal organisation and the chairman FBISE would be the secretary of the project.

He said that the federal secretary education would be convener of the project’s steering committee, while provincial education secretaries, as well as education secretaries of Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), would be its members.

The project will ensure transparency in the examination system in the boards due to which quality of education would be improved, he added.

The objectives of the project is to improve quality of examination system, monitoring, control and academic audit of affiliated institutions, trouble-free access to various pre-and-post exam services to all stakeholders and standardisation amongst various boards of the country, he elaborated.

Unfortunately, Dr Ikram said, the standard of educational boards is very low as compared on world level while educational standards of all boards are also different from each other.

Talking about the FBISE, Dr Ikram Malik said that the board had been modernised with up-to-date facilities with an aim to provide online help to its national and international students at their nearest places.

Thousands of students are being facilitated through FBISE online system across fourteen countries, he said, adding that one-window services had also been launched for the students visiting the board.

The chairman said that he himself monitored the online applications process on daily basis.