Sunday, June 4, 2017

National Consultative Conference on HEC Vision 2025

Islamabad, May 29, 2017: The Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan organised on Monday the National Consultative Conference on HEC Vision 2025 to deliberate future plans for higher education sector and discuss further improvement in the reform process in line with the Government of Pakistan’s Vision 2025.

Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform was chief guest on the occasion. Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim Sanai, Minister for Education, Gilgit-Baltistan, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, Engr. Jawed Salim Qureshi, Chairman, Pakistan Engineering Council,

TEVTA is going to set up First vocational university in Pakistan

Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Punjab is set to unveil the very first technical and vocational training university in Punjab, thanks to a collaboration with the Chinese Tianjin University of Technical Education (TUTE).

According to a TEVTA spokesperson. the agreement to create the University of Technical and Vocational Education (UTVE) was signed by Irfan Qaiser Sheikh, the Chairperson of TEVTA and Liu Xin, the President of TUTE in an event held in Tianjin China.

Pakistan’s Poor Record Protecting Schools

Endorse Safe Schools Declaration Ahead of UN Rights Review

“I was just 10 when more than 400 schools [in Pakistan] were destroyed,” said Malala Yousafzai when she accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. “And our beautiful dreams turned into nightmares. Education went from being a right to being a crime. Girls were stopped from going to school.”

Vacant posts will be advertised to ensure merit

KARACHI: Sindh Education and Literacy Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar said that the advertisements regarding appointments on vacant posts will be published soon in leading newspapers.

He said that the services of reputed testing agency are being sought through the expression of interest given in the newspapers to keep the whole process transparent.

Research focused education crucial for economic empowerment

Higher education focused on research and development is critical for social well being and economic empowerment of the masses, said Governor of Sindh Muhammad Zubair here on Tuesday.
Talking to Chancellor of Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology (KIET), Air Vice Marshal (retd) Salim Arshad and Vice Chancellor Tabraiz Asif at the Governor House,

Careem Announces Leadership Program 2017 for Graduates

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Careem Announces Leadership Program 2017 for Youth

Careem Partners With TCF to Promote Education

This Ramadan, Careem has come up with an exciting campaign in collaboration with TCF. This partnership will promote education in Pakistan through ride hailing App, Careem. Careem Partners With TCF to Promote Education this Ramadan.

The Citizens Foundation (TCF) is a non profit organization who wants to bring positive social change through education.

Threats to education institutions

Students don’t feel safe after APS and Bacha Khan University incidents. Majority of students feel unsafe due to constant threat of terrorism.
There should be a proper security plan for each institution whether it is government or private. There should be CCTV cameras inside and outside the institutions, trained guards and an emergency exit. There shouldn’t be any unchecked place for entrance.

Should we double the education budget, or seek 100pc literacy?

Pakistan has doubled its budget in recent years, but enrollment has stagnated. As a result of the inefficient use of funds, access to quality education for children across the country stands compromised.

– AFP/File
– AFP/File
In recent years, the federal and provincial governments have undertaken numerous reforms with varying levels of success. Despite their efforts, a lot remains to be done to get kids into school and improve learning in the classrooms.

To address these educational challenges, the efficient and effective use of the available budget for education is key.

Pakistan’s education budget has gone up by an average of 17.5pc every year since 2010



The budget has more than doubled since 2010



Pakistan’s education budget can now measure up to the defence budget

Note: The defence budget does not include military pensions, the cost of the nuclear programme (estimated at $747 million by the Stimson Center), or military operations in FATA.





Since 2010, education has been a provincial responsibility. Hence, Pakistan's education budget is derived by summing up the federal and individual provincial budgets.




Provinces have allocated 17pc to 24pc of their budgets for education in 2016-17. (The provincial budgets for 2017-18 will be released in the coming weeks).




The ‘current budget’ is for salaries and operational costs (non-salary), whereas the ‘development budget’ is for the construction and rehabilitation of schools. Recent history suggests that provinces tend to under spend on development and non-salary budgets, but overspend on salaries, so that they end up utilising most of the education budget.




Unesco recommends that countries disburse 15pc to 20pc of their budgets on education. The global average is 14pc. Compared to its total national budget, Pakistan spends 13pc.




In Pakistan's case, this spending amounts to 2.83pc of the GDP on education. According to Alif Ailaan, an additional Rs400 billion on education is needed this year to increase spending to 4pc of GDP, bringing the education budget to Rs1.2 trillion.

Cutting a federal programme or collecting more taxes may help Pakistan towards that target. Cutting a federal programme or collecting more taxes may help Pakistan towards that target, but the dilemma of solving the education crisis will persist.




While Pakistan has doubled its budget and brought it closer to military spending, enrollment rates have stagnated.




Parents will send their kids to a private school, charging a few hundred rupees a month, if they can afford it. Nearly 40pc of students in Pakistan go to private schools. Their parents spend as much as the government does on education and tuition. If we add what Pakistani parents spend on education, Pakistan’s education spending exceeds 4pc of the GDP.




Children are out of school in Pakistan because they get so little out of going to school. Teachers are either absent, or present, but not teaching.

The 2015 report of the independent Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) finds that only 44pc of third graders in rural schools (public and private) can read a sentence in Urdu. Of those who stay in school through fifth grade, only 55pc can read a story in Urdu.

It is a similar story for science at a grade four level. In 2006, 67pc of students scored below average in the National Education Assessment System (NEAS) assessment of fourth grade science. The situation further deteriorated in 2014, when the most recent iteration of the NEAS assessment divulged that 79pc of students had scored below average.

The majority of children aged five to nine in Pakistan are in school. That’s 17 out of 22 million kids, according to the National Education Management System. Improving literacy and numeracy rates for them is our best shot at convincing the parents of Pakistan’s five million out-of-school children aged five to nine that school is worth it.

Overspending on salaries
Private school teachers are paid $25 to $50 per month. Government school teachers are paid $150 to $1,000 per month, according to a paper by SAHE and Alif Ailaan. Government school teachers have more education and training than private school teachers.

In light of the difference in teachers' salaries, private schools spend less than half of what the government does per child. However, according to LEAPS, children who go to private schools are one and a half to two grades ahead of those in government schools, depending on the subject.

The danger of increasing the budget without a plan is that it could all go into salaries for non-performing teachers, as has happened in Sindh.

Sindh’s budget has octupled (increased by a factor of 8x) since 2010.

Meanwhile the salary budget has gone up 12 times.




Pakistan is also inefficient at spending money set aside for building schools. The “development budget” that is allocated for this purpose goes unspent year after year.

Pakistan is under-performing even at its current budget levels. The solution is not dramatic budget increases, but making sure the budget we have is translating into schools where children are learning.

Instead of asking the government to double the budget, we should ask them to double the efforts for improving quality of learning for children who have been in school for years.

Aftab warns CEO Education of stern action

Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmad has taken strict notice of the public complaints against Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Education Attock and warned him of taking strict action if again any complaint received against him. He was listening to the complaints of the people here at his residence.

Qatar and Punjab to cooperate in education sector

A high-level delegation of Qatar, on behalf of the education sector in Qatar, called on the Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif here today. The delegation included Resource Mobilization Manager of Special Programs Division of Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development of the Islamic Development Bank Dawood S. Al Bourshaid, Chief Executive Officer of Education Above All Fahad Hamad Hassan Al Sulaiti and other high-level officials of Qatar.

During the meeting, different matters pertaining to education, especially promotion of bilateral cooperation in skills development, came under discussion, and it was agreed that partnership between Punjab and Qatar will be promoted.

The chief minister spoke with the delegation in Arabic. The delegation appreciated the practical steps taken by the chief minister for the promotion of quality education.

CM, on the occasion, said that he is -ready to extend his cooperation for the promotion of education. He said that the promotion of education is the top priority of the Punjab government; and added that the required recourses will be provided for educating the youth. He said that the Punjab government has granted basic rights to the youth required for education. “Provision of recourses for the empowerment of the youth is not an expenditure, but a beneficial investment.” He said that empowerment of the youth through skills development is his greatest ambition.

The chief minister further said that the new generation holds the key to national development and that prosperity could only come through the joint efforts of Qatar and Punjab.

More than a hundred thousand financially-challenged students, the CM said, from all over the country, are benefiting from the PEEF which is the largest programme of its kind, not only in Pakistan but in South Asia, as well. He added that the educational stipends worth Rs 11 billion have been distributed on merit from the educational fund of Punjab. PEEF has opened the door for higher education to the bright, but deserving children of Punjab. This is not only benefiting the students from Punjab, he said, but is also benefitting students from other provinces like Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

It is important to note that the PEEF beneficiaries are getting higher education in different national and international universities. He disclosed that Rs 5 billion will be allocated to this unique education program in the upcoming provincial budget, to increase the total budget for this programme to Rs 22 billion.

The CM further stated that 2.5 million students are getting an education through the platform of Punjab Education Foundation; while hundreds of thousands of laptops have also been given to deserving students, under the project.

The CM said that more than 80 thousand children of brick kiln workers have been enrolled in schools under by the Punjab government, the under education package; and added that every child has been provided with free books, uniform and stationery items, besides one thousand monthly stipends. Similarly, he said, parents of the school going children have also been given stipends. He added that forcing the children to work is a social evil.

The meeting mutually decided to enhance cooperation between Qatar and Punjab in skills’ development.

Provincial Minister for Schools Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed, Chairman Punjab Education Foundation Qamar ul Islam Raja, chief secretary, secretary schools education and senior officials were present on the occasion.

Pakistani school counsellors complete US educational tour

As many as 19 Pakistani secondary school counselors recently completed a two-week professional development tour in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts organized by Education USA at the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP).

Barriers to female education

It is universally accepted that unless people at large are liberated through education, there is little hope of any social or economic breakthrough. A number of policy measures have been taken by the Government of Pakistan to redress the problem of illiteracy, particularly of girls, but the situation is alarming in most part of the country. Family pressures, socio-cultural obstacles coupled with a defunct schooling system restrict access even to basic education.

Punjab unveils Rs1.977 trillion Budget 2017-18

Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghous Pasha on Friday presented fifth provincial budget Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for upcoming fiscal year 2017-18 with total outlay of Rs1.977 billion.

The budget session was presided over by Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan,

Inculcation of peace education

Bringing into our schools Peace Education curricula with tools such as social and emotional learning, communication techniques, restorative processes, capacity building, conflict resolution and other proven peace building skills, will help transform the culture of violence and will change our social structure and thought process.