‘ 5m destitute schoolchildren now getting education’

The government has increased funds in education sector to increase the literacy rate, minister says

Minister for Education and Professional Training, Engr Muhammad Baligh- ur- Rahman has said around five million children had been enrolled in last five years to bring back all those children who left schools mainly due to financial constraints.

“The school expenses of these out- of- school children from class one to 12 have been borne purely by the government with the objective of leaving not a single child unattended just because of accessibility barriers, the minister said while talking to APP yesterday.

He said, “This effort of ours has been acknowledged by the international educational organisations and they are happy about the programme under which, for the first time in Pakistan, a record number of children have been admitted in schools during a short span of time.”

Quality education

The government, he said was pumping more funds in education sector to increase the literacy rate and to provide quality education.

He added the federal and provincial governments had spent more than Rs4,200 billion during the last five years for the promotion of the education sector. The budget for the higher education sector had also been increased from Rs40 billion to Rs107 billion during the last five years.

He said that the federal government had increased its budgetary allocation for educational sector from Rs500 billion to Rs900 billion during last five years and the number was increasing every year, he said.

Pakistan is among top five countries, which are providing E- Learning education to students, the Minister for Education and Professional Training said.

He said that Pakistan had hired the services of an international institution, TIMS, for assessment of the education sector in the country, adding that it would start work by next year with the cooperation of national institutions.

Funds had been allocated to TIMS for this and training had been provided to local and TIMS experts to conduct assessment, he said.

Lauding the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme, the minister said that Pakistan was now among the top five countries in the world which was providing e- learning services to students.

Among top 300

He said that according to QS World University Ranking, around 10 Pakistani universities had been placed among the top 300 universities of Asia, adding that this number was increasing annually.

The Minister said currently Pakistan has only 26 per cent Ph. Ds, while it required a further 40 per cent under Vision- 2025. This target would be attained through the Pak- US Knowledge Corridor, he added.

HEC chairman

While, replying to a question about the appointment of a new chairman to HEC, Baligh- urRahman said that around 100 applications had been received for the post till date.

He said the new chairman would be hired purely on merit basis through a transparent process, under the committee established by the prime minister.