KARACHI, Jan 13: Federal Education Minister Zobaida Jalal has said that a sum of Rs250 million will immediately be disbursed to the provinces according to the criteria of the national executive council (NEC), which is a part of the National Finance Commission.
Talking to newsmen after the inaugural session of the master trainers for the English language teaching programme at a local hotel on Monday, she said that the amount would be spent for completion of the buildings on which 80 to 90 per cent work had already been carried out.
Originally, she added, the amount had been allocated to some other area which could not be utilized and now it was being sent to the provinces according to the NEC criteria.
About the allocation of money for the education sector in the current fiscal year, Ms Jalal said that Rs9 billion were on the development part while establishment cost was Rs73 billion.
“We are going to see enhancement in the allocation for the education sector in the next financial year and also for the support to the provinces.”
The minister pointed out that in the last ten years there had been a declining trend as far as allocation for education sector was concerned but during the last two years the allocation had gradually increased from 2.1 per cent to 2.3 per cent of the GDP.
“Hopefully we will have a better GDP percentage (for the education sector) for the fiscal year 2003-04 than the previous year,” she added.
In reply to a question about the increasing gap in the quality of education of government and private schools, Ms Jalal said that the main focus of the government was on the training of teachers to help bridge the gap.
She pointed out that curriculum from class 1 to XII in eight subjects, besides science, had been revised last year.
Zobaida Jalal said that last year the federal government had provided textbooks to 20,000 schoolchildren free of cost and a similar number of students would get textbooks this year.
Referring to the decision of the Punjab government to make high school education free, she said that they might have the budget for embarking on such a venture. Other provinces would also look into it, she added.
The minister said that education sector reforms envisaged free compulsory primary education and if the provinces moved beyond that it would be good.
Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the master trainers in English language teaching, Zobaida Jalal pointed towards the great demand for learning English in the country and said that the shortage of English teachers was very difficult to meet.
The three-month course is being organized by the British Council Karachi in collaboration with the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers, the Aga Khan Centre for English Language and the Sindh education department.
The exercise is aimed at developing a group of 40 trainers, chosen on merit from the government schools from every district of the province, who would be able to impart further training to the English teachers in their respective areas.
Zobaida Jalal described as very important the teaching of English language skills for Pakistani schools and particularly those in the public sector.
“As an English language teacher I remember the great demand for learning English even in the remote areas of Balochistan and the shortage of teachers which could never be met,” she added.
“Wherever I go in Pakistan, the demand for English remains as an integral part of getting education. It is also seen as a symbol for breaking the walls between government and private sector education systems, or as some call it, the apartheid of education.
“As we try today to bridge the gap between public and private sectors by improving quality, English language will have a central role to play,” she added.
Zobaida Jalal said that in the year 2000-01 as the federal education minister she had allocated an additional Rs4.57 billion for the provinces for improvement of education quality.
Director of the British Council, Charlie Walker, said that the master trainers in English language would also be trained to design and deliver effective training modules, tailored to the needs of their colleagues in their districts.
Education Secretary Nazar Hussain Mahar announced that over 200 model English schools would be opened in the province.
He said that an English excellence centre would initially be set up in Karachi and an amount of Rs10 million have been allocated for the purpose.
He said that at the later stage such centres would also be set up in all districts of the province.—APP
