Islamabad - All provinces and area governments will hold a dialogue on National Education Policy 2009 and will come up with the tangible changes/ recommendations for the improvement of the policy by last week of May so that the revised policy can be announced in January 2016.
The revision of national education policy and other matters related to the sector were discussed at the 5th Inter-Provincial Education Ministers’ Conference (IPEMC), says a press release issued here on Monday.
Minister of State Baleegh Ur Rehman thanked the government of Balochistan and Ministry of Education, Balochistan, on arranging the prestigious conference.
Joint Education Advisor Rafiq Tahir said the revised NEP will be announced in January 2016 as required by IPEMC. The five years (2009 to 2014) review of implementation of NEP 2009, inclusion of 25-A in the existing education policy, rationalization of 7 percent budget allocation of GDP, quarterly implementation review of the education policy at IPEMC, early childhood education of age group 4-5 may be included in revised national education policy, he said.
He added that policy provision regarding recruitment of competent, dedicated and qualified teachers on merit basis must be implemented, stated Rafiq Tahir. Talking about the German education system and its similarities to Pakistani education system, Tahir said that operational level bodies working under the IPEMC could be developed along the same line as in Germany. For example interprovincial education secretaries forum should prepare for the IPEMC, National Curriculum Council should report on standards implementation and provincial technical working groups (e.g. quality, access) will analyze information and inform/make recommendations to NCC and the secretaries forum etc.
Baleegh Ur Rehman said a national curriculum council has also been established which would help create a minimum national curriculum where the federal government and provinces would be given equal representation. Moreover national education standards would be defined for teachers, students and educationists in order to achieve goals.
Talking about the vocational training schools, the minister said, “We are going to establish these schools all over the country in order to reduce the dropout rate, as there are many children who are out of schools due to various reasons. And if we provide them a platform to learn some technical skills, it would not only help them find a good job in the market but would also empower them which would boost their self-confidence.”
The national qualifications framework is considered as a mechanism for classification of the qualifications on the basis of the learning outcomes i.e. skill, competence, knowledge, stated Dr Mukhtar Ahmad, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC).  
It is levels-based and outcomes-focused. It sets out the levels on which a qualification can be recognized in Pakistan.
The conference was attended by the Governor Balochistan as a chief guest, education minister AJK, education minister Gilgit-Baltistan, education advisor to CM Balochistan, secretary federal education, educationists, secretaries and representatives of provincial education ministries, and representatives of NGOs.