ISLAMABAD  – The government is set to launch “Own a School” programme involving the private parties to own public sector schools of Islamabad to uplift the education level in the federal capital.
In this connection, Prime Minister Task Force on Islamabad has initiated extensive work on the transformation of the education system beginning with three primary schools of the rural areas of Islamabad in collaboration with the private sector. Addressing the annual convocation and high achievers ceremony of a local school, Chairman Task Force Faisal Sakhi Butt said these schools would be upgraded with revamped infrastructure, proper teacher training and facilities for students. He said the federal capital lacks basic facilities even after the laps of more than five decades and the Task Force was working to address real issues of the city.
He said that basic issues of provision of clean drinking water, waste management, sanitation, and cleanliness and those of the development of stalled sectors have not been addressed as the city also lacked proper transport system.
He said the real challenge today is to change our way of thinking not just our systems, institutions or policies.
He stressed the need for understanding the strange reality of Pakistan’s education system that is facing a serious form of digital divide.
“On one hand, teachers are working with `digital literate’ students with their lives anchored into the internet and multimedia devices.  But on the other, a majority of students and teachers have no access to these tools and technologies neither at home nor schools,” he commented.
Butt said majority of schools have failed to produce `digitally literate’ students, consequently, a large number of such students are unable to avail the opportunities available in today’s knowledge based economies. The chairman Task Force said the most serious challenge for our education system is to produce such students capable to use available tools and technologies in an online collaborative, research-based environment for research, analysis, synthesis, evaluating and innovations. “We need a vision to honor the commitments and challenges of interconnected world,” Faisal Butt advised.
The Task Force head called upon the management of the private school systems to collaborate with the public sector for improving the quality of education in government run schools especially in the areas of human resource development through better teachers training mechanism.
“We are seeking suggestions and deliberating on the ways and means through which the standards of education in these government schools could be enhanced inline with the needs of the challenges of 21st century”
The chairman task force also lauded the services being provided by Roots School System in pioneering quality education in the federal capital and elsewhere in the country.
Butt administered oath to the members of the student council and also paid tribute to the management of the Roots School System.