October 25, 2003	Saturday	Sha’aban 28, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Federal Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Shaukat Aziz on Friday deprecated the practice in the government of sending officials overseas in the name of training which was of no benefit to the country.

Speaking as chief guest at the launching ceremony of a book containing proceedings of Human Development Congress held last June by an NGO, Human Resource Development Network (HRDN), he said such free jaunts were used by the officials only for meeting relatives and friends.

They scarcely, if ever, submitted after their return any report about what they had learned, he added.

By way of justifying low outlays for education, the finance minister said it was no use increasing expenditure if the enrolment rate in primary schools remained low, dropout rate high and the teachers continued to indulge in absenteeism.

He said the government was encouraging the private sector in the provisions of education and health services. “This will allow public resources to be directed towards improving access and service quality,” he said.

The principle strategic goals in health sector, according to him, “are to focus on preventive programmes”.

The government, Mr Aziz said, aimed at implementing a public sector capacity building project with the assistance of the World Bank, focusing on professional development and capacity building.

The strategy for public sector professional development was anchored on creating champions of change at the senior level who would engender reforms, lead the process of policy formulation and implementation, besides providing a nurturing environment for high quality work, he said.

These ‘champions’ will also develop a critical mass of internationally trained policy analysts and decision-makers across key government ministries, regulatory authorities and departments.