KARACHI: Core group to monitor education sector plans
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 16: After a two-day round-table consultation, Sindh Education department and foreign donors agreed to form a core group aiming at coordinating inputs from various working groups in the education sector.
The body would be headed by Sindh Education minister and include representatives of foreign donors, district governments, nazims, EDOs, representatives of provincial Finance and Planning and Development departments.
The group would suggest measures for proper and timely financing for the implementation of different educational programmes, chalked out by the Sindh Education department.
While announcing formation of the group at the concluding session of the Sindh Education Programme's consultative workshop on Tuesday, Sindh Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat said that his inclusion in the group reflected government's political will to improve the education sector.
He said that the latest round of dialogue amongst important partners and stake-holders, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Commission and Unicef, had provided the government with a unique opportunity to review and evaluate its education policy and programmes, and determine the strategy gaps in the light of future needs.
He pointed out that a cohesive and coordinated agenda, carried forward with rationalized budgets, would minimize the possibilities of wastage of resources. The minister thanked foreign donors for their assistance and support for provincial Education sector and viewed that Sindh had sufficient resource to attain high levels of literacy and human development.
Earlier, during the plenary comments and recommendations, the participants observed that local governments could prove instrumental in development of education sector if EDOs and other authorities at local level be well equipped and had adequate funds and infrastructure.
It was also stressed that Sindh Education programmes be refined and developed on medium-term expenditure framework. Donors should also form their own coordination body to avoid overlapping of projects and rally around the Sindh Devolved Social Services Programme as an initial vehicle for coordination, a foreign delegate suggested.
Those who took part in Tuesday's deliberations or made presentations, included Likka Uusitalo, head of EC delegation, Vincent de Wit of ADB, Edward Haugh of ADB, Ghulam Ali Pasha, Sindh Secretary for Education, Prof Anita Ghulam Ali of Sindh Education Foundation, Tahseen Sayed of World Bank, Maurice Robinson of Unicef, Siddiq Bhatti of EC, Wasif A Rizvi of AKES, Iqbal S Durrani, Dr Muhammad Memon, Prof Rais Alvi, Aijaz Ali Baig Mirza and Gul Mohammad Hajano.
Thorsten Bargfrede of the EC delegation in Pakistan, stressed the need of initiating shared analysis and surveys for teachers' development, public finance management and human resource development in management of education sector.
The ADB Education specialist, Linda Arthur, presented the summary of group discussions held for identification of priorities, issues and constraints. The group on "Priorities among sectors and targets," resolved that there was a need to support the ongoing initiatives and to discourage multiple activities at district-level in view of limited capacity of government.
The group on "Supply and Demand issues" urged the government to give priority to supply-side issues, as these were in control of the government.
