ISLAMABAD, Sept 7: The government is contemplating to introduce an international standard test —- Graduate Record Examination (GRE) —- for schoolteachers so that they could enhance their qualification.

“A proposal is also under consideration to grant a substantial raise in the salaries of those teachers, who would achieve a minimum score of the GRE test,” said the science and technology minister, Prof Attaur Rehman, who is also wearing the cap of education ministry.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of first e-learning portal in Pakistan here on Saturday.

Unless the quality of faculty from primary to higher education level is not improved, Pakistan cannot progress, he added.

Mr Ata said a multi-pronged proposal was under review in the education ministry to increase the quality of education and analyze the relevance of education system with reference to the national and international needs.

That’s why, he disclosed, President Pervez Musharraf had decided to increase the education budget from Rs870 million to Rs7 billion within this year.

He said the government would encourage the schoolteachers to voluntary take GRE examination. “This would not only enhance their qualification but also excite others to improve their education standards,” the minister said.

He deplored this opinion that quality of our education in the government schools was generally very low and not compatible with O and A levels.

To address the situation, he said, a body had been formed in the ministry to carefully analyze what was required to enhance the standard of education.

Prof Ata announced that he intended to call a meeting of provincial education ministers and secretaries later this month to adopt a joint strategy in this regard because primarily, education was the concern of the provinces.

He said the examination system was also being revamped and availability of textbooks and journals was being ensured to change the approach of the examination system from rote-learning to thinking and problem solving.

He said four think-tanks had been constituted comprising representatives of private schools and the government functionaries with a direction to critically evaluate and make suggestions for quality education.

About the new E-learning portal, the minister said the government had laid great emphasis on the IT education and was also looking forward for similar initiatives. He suggested that a similar portal be connected with the examination system so that the quality of our students could be enhanced.

During the ceremony, he conceded that there was a general complaint among the subscribers about the variable quality of Internet Service Providers. He said a further decrease in the bandwidth rate was required.