Education for all: dream or reality?

IS Pakistan on track to meet the Education For All (EFA) targets set in April 2000, at Dakar World Education Forum in which Pakistan together with 183 other countries had committed to achieve by the year 2015? According to a Unesco report, the answer is no.

In the EFA Global Monitoring Report, 2002, published by Unesco, Pakistan is listed in the category of 28 countries that are considered to be in “serious risk” of not achieving any of the three quantitative EFA goals. The three goals are: attaining universal primary education, elimination of gender disparity, and halving of the level of adult illiteracy by 2015.

The first category comprises 83 countries that have already achieved the three goals or have a good chance of doing so by 2015, and the second category comprises 43 countries that have made progress, but are likely to miss at least one goal by 2015. Pakistan is in the third and last category comprising countries, mostly in South Asia (including India and Nepal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, which are considered to be in serious risk of not achieving any of the three goals.

According to the report, Pakistan’s share of the world’s total adult illiterate population of 862 million in the year 2000 was 5 per cent. In 2015, Pakistan’s projected share of the total adult illiterate population of 799 million will be 7 per cent.

In terms of gender parity, Pakistan is listed among those countries that have the highest disparities in enrolment between girls and boys. Thus, according to the Unesco report, Pakistan is not considered on track to achieve the Dakar goal of eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005 and in all levels of education by 2015, “unless highly focused strategies in favour of girls are implemented”.

Since the EFA goals were formulated in 2000 at Dakar, the government of Pakistan has prided itself for developing by August 2001 a National Plan of Action roadmap towards achieving the EFA goals. According to this roadmap (formulated by the new EFA wing in the ministry of education), by 2015 the net participation rate of overall primary education will be 100 per cent (from 60 per cent in 2000); the country’s literacy rate will be 85 per cent (from 49 per cent in 2000); and adult illiterates, which according to official estimate stands at 81 million, will shrink to only 20.4 million.

Which is more accurate? Unesco’s gloomy forecast or the rosy picture painted by the government of Pakistan? Judging by the recent developments in the education sector in the country, apprehension, nay pessimism, about Pakistan’s ability to achieve the EFA goals is not unjustified.

In the first place, the commitment of funds into the EFA roadmap has been unimpressive. According to the EFA roadmap, it is estimated that additional resources to the tune of Rs240 billion are needed to put each primary school-age child in school in Pakistan by 2015. Another Rs180 billion is said to be needed for the adult literacy programmes to achieve their targets, and a further Rs47.74 billion is required for expanding and improving early childhood care and education (ECCE), which is also an EFA goal (non-quantitative) set at Dakar. This means a total of at least Rs467.74 billion is estimated needed for achieving the EFA goals.

The estimates by international agencies are even higher. According to a Unicef study, the average annual additional cost to Pakistan for achieving universal primary education by 2015 is $790 million (Rs44.2 billion). According to a Unesco study, the average annual extra spending for Pakistan to achieve universal primary education by 2015 is $395 million (Rs22.1 billion).

But, the money allocated annually by the government of Pakistan for the education sector since 2000 is no match to any of these figures. For instance, the amount allocated for education under development expenditure in the 2003-2004 budget is only Rs3.1 billion.

A plethora of new forums and reforms on education have sprouted in recent years, purportedly to achieve the EFA goals. Among them are the EFA wing in the education ministry, EFA Forums (provincial, district and local), Education Sector Reforms (ESR), National Educational Testing Services, National Education Assessment System, the Provincial Education Assessment Centres, National Council Accreditation and Quality Assurance, etc.

But, instead of improvement in the quantity and quality of service delivery in the public education sector, what has occurred over the past one year is a major upheaval and unrest in this sector, mainly due to parallel government efforts to denationalize the education sector and revolutionize the curriculum.

Demonstrations by teachers against the government’s move to denationalize educational institutions resulted in clashes between teachers and policemen in several cities, the latest in front of the National Assembly in Islamabad early this month. Teachers’ protests have also taken the form of token boycott of classes and hunger strikes.

As if the education sector was not beset with enough problems, then came the shortage of textbooks. Three months now into the start of the new academic year and many textbooks are still not available on the shelves.

Yet, another new controversy has arisen in the Capital due to insistence by the education authorities on charging an extra Rs400 to Rs600 (in addition to the usual fees) for compulsory summer classes in July to make up for lesson time lost due to the shortage of textbooks. The move has upset many parents.

It is obvious that achieving the EFA goals requires a concerted national effort. The government needs to take along and harness the support of all the stakeholders, including the teachers, the parents and the students. But, instead of focussing strategies on the EFA goals, the government seems to have gone off-track on its EFA roadmap by simultaneously implementing controversial policies, which have only served to create uncertainty, unrest and unhappiness amongst teachers, parents and students alike.

Lately, the government has come up with another reform aimed at achieving the EFA goals. Last week, it was reported that a new “facilitation cell” is being set up in the education ministry to encourage greater involvement in education by the private sector. The education minister was reported to have said Pakistan would not be able to achieve the EFA goals in 2015 without the private sector.

But, can the private sector in Pakistan really help in “...ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality...” (EFA goal formulated at Dakar)? Free and compulsory primary education is known to be associated with the public sector, not the private sector.

Unless the government diverts resources from elsewhere to considerably beef up the public education sector, achieving the EFA goals will in all likelihood remain a dream rather than a realistic proposition for Pakistan.

Long-winded winding up

ONE needs enormous patience to listen to the monologues of Senior Minister Sirajul Haq. He keeps his cool when emotions run high. And he is persuasive. But then he stretches it a bit too far.

At times it appears that he is using this as a defence shield. He goes round and round and round, moving in circles before coming to the point. So far, it has worked successfully to his advantage. But patience has its limits,

and it appears that some MPAs are now reaching that threshold.

Mr Haq’s winding-up speech on the budget on Monday was no different than his budget speech which was long and tedious. From the very outset, he went on to mention by name all the parliamentarians who had taken part in the budget discussion. This appeared to be an attempt to please all those who were unhappy with the non-allocation of funds for their respective constituencies and a way of assuring them that he was attentive to their grievances.

Mercifully, he stopped short of naming all the 124 MPAs. Then he began his usual sweet-talk going around in circles again. Not once did he come to the point of telling us as to why Bannu, the home district of Chief Minister Durrani, got over a billion rupees in the ADP followed by his native Dir district and why some districts were left high and dry.

But parliamentarians are grumbling loud and clear. And that grumbling is not confined to the opposition. There are MPAs on the treasury benches who are also not very happy with the allocations.

Pir Mohammad Khan from Shangla is a seasoned parliamentarian affiliated with the Jamaat-i-Islami. But for some reasons the JI has chosen to ignore him and he is feeling the pinch. He, therefore, never lets go an opportunity to embarrass his own ruling alliance.

Monday was his turn to speak his heart out and he appeared fully prepared to dissect the budget but not quite surprisingly Speaker Bakht Jehan gave him only five minutes to complete his speech that too was frequently interrupted. In between, the MPA did manage to show that his district, rated amongst the five most poor districts of NWFP, has not been given a single developmental scheme. He also made an interesting point: the discretionary grant of the chief minister has been increased from Rs5 million to Rs20 million. So much for austerity.

Stopping Pir Mohammad Khan from concluding his speech, Bakht Jehan asked another MPA to speak on the budget. But before taking his seat, Pir Mohammad Khan announced he would hold a press conference to air his grievances. The MPA is surely not very happy with the treatment meted out to him.

Other than him, the other MMA MPAs who rose to speak on the budget were found repeating themselves. Few bothered to quote any figures and most ended up congratulating the government.

MMA’s women MPAs too, for a change, spoke, hailing the decisions to set up a women university and a medical college for girls. That was about all. The proceedings were mostly drab.

Down in the lobby, President Musharraf’s latest remarks about the MMA government in the NWFP are causing some anxiety. Most in the ruling alliance believe the president is using the MMA government as a punching bag for his Washington talks.

The opposition, however, has a different perception. They are suggesting that the soon-to-be presented Hisba Act will mark the undoing of the MMA in the NWFP. “What Musharraf is saying are warning shots. Depending on how things develop, we may see some action pretty soon”, said an opposition party leader.

Budget ignores farm sector

This week began with approval of the Sindh budget 2003-4 amid opposition uproar and ended on the launching of a movement against the Greater Thal Canal project and the passing of another resolution against the project by the Sindh Assembly —events that figured in the Sindhi press.

Referring to the budget, Kawish deplores that productive sectors have been ignored as there is no package to support the agriculture sector. The paper says that farm land tax concessions are not enough as the agriculture of Sindh has been hard hit by the water crisis, which has also been admitted by the provincial finance minister who said in his budget speech that due to water shortage, agriculture tax recovery has been reduced by Rs2.42 billion. What is needed is a comprehensive programme to revive the agriculture sector.

As far as the 15 per cent rise in salaries of the provincial government employees is concerned, Kawish points out that the pay increase is not commensurate with the increase in the cost of living.

Referring to the budgetary allocation for water supply to Thar and the development of the Gorakh hill station, the daily says that in the past, funds earmarked for the two places had not been properly utilized. Therefore, it should be ensured that the Thari people get water supply and a road leading to the hill station is constructed.

Sach says that in the wake of fresh allocations for the disputed Thal canal project in the federal budget, the people of Sindh have taken to streets in scorching heat and the Sindh Assembly has again adopted a resolution calling on the centre to shelve the project. The daily says that Islamabad should pay heed to the voice of the province by abandoning the controversial project in the best interest of the federation.

Ibrat condemns the reported statement of Punjab Irrigation Minister Amir Sultan that those opposing the Thal canal construction are agents of the Hindu lobby, saying the allegation has added insult to the injury caused by Punjab Water Council chief Hamid Malhi’s statement that the bigger province does not now need the Sindhis. The daily says the abusive language used by the minister is harmful to the spirit of the federation.

Tameer-i-Sindh recalls that the National Security Council chief has said that international donors are not prepared to fund the Kalabagh dam project without Sindh’s consent, and says that had there been no controversy over the project, it would have been completed.

The daily says that the remarks of NSC secretary Tariq Aziz at a meet the press programme in Lahore suggest that the federal government has not buried the dam project and is awaiting funds from donors for its revival. They also reveal that the work on the dam project was not stopped due to Sindh’s opposition but for lack of finance.

It adds that at a time when Sindh has launched a movement against the Thal canal project and Punjab has earmarked Rs10 million for Kalabagh while declaring it a provincial scheme, the NSC chief’s comments are meaningful. The paper urges the prime minister and other authorities to take notice of the treatment being meted out to Sindh and reminds them that no argument can persuade the water-starved province to say yes to the dam construction.