15 January 2004	Thursday	22 Ziqa'ad 1424

ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: The education ministry will soon send as many as 700 more teachers to the developed countries for training, Education Minister Zobaida Jalal said.

She said the first group including 52 teachers had left for the US on January 12 and 14 and the ministry had received a positive response from the teachers' community in this regard.

She was talking to a delegation of the Aga Khan Foundation, led by the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Women Development and Special Education Nilofar Bakhtiar here on Wednesday.

The minister said successive governments had played havoc with the education sector. The government is encouraging girls' education in the remote areas of the country, she added.

Ms Jalal maintained that the ministry was encouraging the parents in the far-flung areas of the country to send their daughters to schools. She informed the delegation that boundary walls had been build round the schools to give a sense of security to the girl students as well their parents.

The minister said the ministry was revising the curriculum to include women rights in it. This will create awareness among the girl students from the very beginning about their rights and duties, she added.

The minister also briefed the delegation on the policies of the ministry of education in the Northern Areas. She said public-private partnership was the hallmark of the Education Sector Reforms (ESR). Without the help and cooperation of the private sector, it would be difficult to bring revolutionary changes in the education sector, she added.

Ms Jalal also briefed the delegation on the packages and incentives offered by the ministry of education to the private sector, in return for their cooperation with the government.

The minister appreciated the role of Aga Khan Education Network for the promotion of education in the Northern Areas and assured the delegation of her cooperation.