ISLAMABAD-Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Rana Tanveer Hussain has said that Education Ministry was ensuring that an inclusive approach is taken to devise strategies that benefit students, teachers and parents in every province.
He was presiding over the 36th Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) here on Tuesday.
Rana Tanveer Hussain in his opening remarks said that the meeting was going to play an instrumental role in developing synergies for providing access to education in all corners of Pakistan.
He reiterated that IPEMC’s contributions were going to be significant in the enrollment of Out of School Children (OOSC) and multiple distance learning interventions. He emphasized the importance of developing a framework for data sharing as well. He also assured the provinces that maximum facilitation would be given to them for reaping benefits from these projects.
Secretary Education, Waseem Ajmal Chaudhary welcomed the participants and provided an introduction to IPEMC and an overview of the core agenda of the meeting.
He informed the participants about the grants provided to provinces under ASPIRE project during the current and previous fiscal years to facilitate disadvantaged areas for educational access.
He informed the attendees about the flagship initiatives related to distance learning, Out of School Children, Curriculum reforms and foundation learning conferences of MOFEPT and how the provinces could contribute towards their implementation for optimum results.
The meeting proceedings started with a comprehensive overview of the National Distance Education Strategy comprising vision, learning goals and objectives was also carried out during the meeting. The strategy was fully endorsed by the provinces and they assured the Ministry of complete alignment of their plans with the strategy.
Education Ministry representative delivered a presentation on the enrollment of Out of Schools Children (OOSC) at the federal and provincial levels.
The Ministry informed that a model Universal Enrollment Pilot Project in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) had already been rigorously launched in collaboration with implementation partners and Education Secretary was monitoring the progress on a day-to-day basis. It was also informed that the initiative was focusing on bringing down the OOSC to zero in ICT by 30th June 2023.
Federal Ministry for Education emphasized that after the successful piloting of the ZERO OOSC initiative in ICT, the learning will be replicated across the country. Provinces offered their full support in taking forward this remarkable initiative and committed to providing their complete facilitation in the enrollment drive across Pakistan.
A presentation was given by National Curriculum Council on Inter-provincial Coordination with regard to the implementation of the core curriculum.
Important decisions were made for the effective implementation of the new curriculum focusing on reforms in the quality of textbooks, teachers, and assessments across the country.
Provinces also appreciated the initiative of the Teleschool Pakistan App and ensured the Ministry of their complete support in expanding enrollment on the App across the country.
An important endorsement of the National Education Management Information System (EMIS) for Data Standardization of Framework under the Data and Research in Education (DARE) project was also carried out in the meeting.
A presentation was also given by MOFEPT at the two-day International Foundational Learning Conference being organized by MOFEPT in June.
Participants were informed that Early Childhood Education (ECE) and Accelerating Foundational Literacy were part of Pakistan’s national agenda, and the Conference was expected to not just reiterate the federal and provincial government’s commitment but also an opportunity to develop a consensus of all federating units for increased and focused investment in the future of all Pakistani children.
Federal Minister for Education, Rana Tanveer Hussain presented grant cheques of PKR 5400 million in total to Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces under ASPIRE Project to facilitate disadvantaged areas in getting educational access.
Earlier, during FY 21-22, a grant of PKR 3240 million was provided to provinces under the same project.
In the end, the education minister thanked the provincial representatives for their participation and contributions.