MAIN ELEMENTS OF SINDH EDUCATION CONFERENCE (18th March 2006 )

MAIN ELEMENTS OF BALOCHISTAN EDUCATION CONFERENCE (5th April 2006)

MAIN ELEMENTS OF NWFP-FATA EDUCATON CONFERENCE (17th July 2006 )

MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PUNJAB EDUCATION CONFERENCE (2nd May 2006)

MAIN ELEMENTS OF SINDH EDUCATION CONFERENCE 
(18th March 2006 )

The Sindh Education Conference was the first Provincial Conference to take place. Held at the Auditorium of the State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi, the conference was jointly hosted by the Sindh Education Department and the Ministry of Education. Over 150 delegates participated with optimal representation from the Districts.

The Honourable Education Minister for Sindh, Dr. Hamida Khuhru, inaugurated the conference. Appreciating the National Education Policy Review Process, the Secretary Education, Mr. Ghulam Pasha stated that it was highly participatory, inclusive and appreciative of provincial autonomy. He added that the District governments had become major players in education after devolution. The Government of Sindh, he said was already in the process of reorienting the Education Sector Reforms programme in light of the post-devolution scenario. He underlined that the approach of the ongoing policy review, to empower the provinces with the mandate to select strategies and formulate implementation action plans was extremely promising. The Secretary called the review a critical initiative that would give a clear picture of how far the existing policy had achieved its policy targets and added effectiveness to the educational outcomes in the country.

The Honourable Education Minister for Sindh, Dr. Hamida Khouru said that Sindh had already started a reform process and was targeting out of school children and quality in education. Identifying the priority areas that required attention as poverty, quality of teaching, status of teachers, relevance to the market and assessment, the Minister added that education should enable students to actualize their knowledge and learning and become responsible citizens. The Minister requested the NEPR Team to incorporate the reforms in the policy so that activities were synergized and there were no parallel structures.

The Inaugural session was followed by a Working Group Session. Four Working Groups were formed to deliberate concurrently on following four themes and to come up with policy recommendations:

a) Education Management
b) Teachers for Quality Education
c) Assessments
d) Curriculum and Textbooks Policy

The Groups presented their findings in the plenary session. This was followed by an address by the NEPR team leader, Mr. Javed
Hasan Aly.

The Honorable Chief Minister Sindh, Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim, concluded the Sindh Education Conference. Working Groups presented their findings and recommendations to the conference audience.

MAIN ELEMENTS OF BALOCHISTAN EDUCATION CONFERENCE
(5th April 2006)

The Education Minister Balochistan, Maulana. Abdul Wahid Siddique inaugurated the Balochistan Education Conference on April 5, 2006 at the Boys Scouts Association Hall, Quetta. Around 120 participants including senior government officials, education experts, education managers, principals, vice chancellors, religious scholars, teachers, students, parents, Nazims, EDOs, AEDOs and development partners participated in the Conference. The event was unique in its gender balance as there was a substantial female participation from both urban areas as Quetta and remote Districts of Balochistan.

The Secretary Education, Mr. Tariq Ayub and the Additional Secretary Development, Mr. Habibullah, acknowledged that changes at the national and international fronts like devolution, Government of Pakistan’s renewed commitments for Education for All under Dakar Framework of Action demanded a meaningful review of the existing education policy. Appreciation of the unique, inclusive and consultative approach adopted by the Ministry of Education for the development of the new policy was expressed. It was highlighted that poverty, poor infrastructure and lack of transport facilities were the major challenges to socio-economic development in Balochistan and needed to be tackled if education was to make any impact in the province.

The Education Minister Balochistan, Mr. Abdul Wahid Siddique, echoed the views of the Education Department on the participatory nature of the NEPR process and lack of realistic, clear objectives in the past education policies. The Minister underscored that lack of infrastructure, access, female education and poor status of the teacher were the main problems. It was recommended that issues related to globalisation, quality education, research-based education and the role of parents should be included in the policy.

The inaugural session was followed by a Working Group Session. Conference articipants were divided into four groups, which held concurrent discussions on following areas:
I. Finding the Right Teacher
II. Issues of Textbooks and Curriculum
III. Role of Government in Education Delivery: Challenges of Access, Equity and Quality
IV. Education Management

The Conference concluded with presentation of findings and recommendations of all four Working Groups. The session ended on the note that it was important to provide uniform human development across the length and breadth of the country regardless of ethical and linguistic barriers so that the people could prosper.  

MAIN ELEMENTS OF THE PUNJAB EDUCATION CONFERENCE  
(2nd May 2006)

The Punjab Education Conference held on May 2, 2006 at the Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore was a highly successful event with more than 160 delegates present from all walks of life including senior government officials, education experts, education managers, principals, vice chancellors, religious scholars, teachers, students, parents, Nazims, EDOs, AEDOs. The Education Minister for Punjab, Mian Imran Masood inaugurated the Conference. Special Secretary, Higher Education, Syed Mubashar Raza was also present. Achievements of the Government of Punjab under the Education Sector Reform Assistance programme and the success of the province in garnering funding support for education were highlighted.

Subsequent to the inaugural session, concurrent Working Group Sessions were held to discuss the following themes:
I. Inter Tier Issues in Education
II. Curriculum and Textbooks Policy Issues
III. Challenges in Teachers Professional Development
IV. The Public and Private Sector in Education

The working groups had extremely effective discussions followed up by a closing session which included presentation of the Working Groups on recommendations.  

MAIN ELEMENTS OF NWFP-FATA EDUCATON CONFERENCE  
(17th July 2006 )

The NWFP-FATA Education Conference was held at Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. More than 100 participants including senior government officials, education experts, education managers, principals, vice chancellors, religious scholars, teachers, students, parents, Nazims, EDOs and AEDOs informed the policy formulation process with their concerns.

The NWFP and FATA Education Conference was inaugurated by Provincial Minister of Education, Maulana Fazal Ali Haqqani. The Minister highlighted achievements of Government of NWFP in the education sector and motivated the audience to take quick and sincere action on the ideological and commitment issues confronting education. The Secretary Schools and Literacy, Mr. Amjad Shahid Afridi, cautioned the National Education Policy Review Team that the process of devolution was still not complete and that the Education Policy had to be aware of the problems with change management. He spoke in favour of a realistic and implementable policy based on sound statistical evidence and research.

Subsequent to the inaugural session, five working groups were formed to debate on the following:
I. Purpose of Education
II. Literacy
III. Education Financing
IV. Medium of Instruction
V. Issues of Education in FATA

The working groups presented their findings in the concluding session. Mr. Hussain Ahmed Kanju, Minister for Information Technology, Government of NWFP presided over the closing session. Qazi Hifz-ur-Rahman, Chairman of Board of Secondary and Intermediate Education, Bannu was also present.

Issues like lack of absorption capacity for funds, infrastructure, manpower and management were underlined. The Minister added that the education system should be designed to inculcate the culture of an educated Islamic mind with the capability and courage to practice religion in its true spirit, not just in rituals. He also spoke in favour of developing uniform national institutions, improving examination systems, and updating curricula with a view to making them more relevant to territorial contexts.