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| April 19, 2003 | Saturday | Safar 16, 1424 |
11,250 primary schools to be established
ISLAMABAD, April 18: The government has planned to establish 11,250 primary and 2,500 mosque schools besides upgrading 12,800 existing primary schools in the country under the National Plan of Action (2001-2015).
The plan is being launched under the aegis of the ministry of education to improve literacy rate in the country, said a perspective plan of Universal Primary Education (UPE).
According to this plan, about 12,800 existing primary schools would be upgraded to the elementary level and 19,000 elementary schools to the secondary level.
Under the National Plan of Action (NPA), technical skills would be introduced in over 2,000 existing secondary schools empowering the younger generation to earn their livelihood in a dignified way. In addition, 90 polytechnic institutes would be set up in less-developed areas in the four provinces. During this period, literacy rate would be increased by almost 50 per cent by implementing the NPA in a true spirit.
Under the perspective plan, entry qualification for fresh primary teachers would be raised to higher secondary school (Intermediate) certificate with one-year teacher training, and for middle school teacher bachelor’s degree along with one-year teacher training to help achieve set goals.
An allocation of Rs62.428 billion has been made for the next decade under the national programme including an allocation of Rs6.248 billion for special areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, informed sources said.
The perspective plan will focus on improving literacy and participation rates through formal and non-formal education system. Girls technical and science education will receive special attention, they added.
Quality education at all levels would be ensured through better teaching facilities. Curricula would be reviewed and financial and managerial constraints would be overcome through good governance, they said. The sources said new initiatives would include a national education assessment system and introduction of merit through training of teachers.
Gender equality and empowerment would be promoted to combat poverty, hunger, and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable. Emphasis, they said, would also be laid on mainstreaming of gender concerns into the overall planning and sectoral programming framework with strengthened capacity of district administration to address gender and development issues.
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