29 April 2005	Friday	19 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 28: About six million children of primary school-going age are out of schools and the government attaches top priority to enhance their enrolment, Federal Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi said on Thursday. He was talking to participants of a walk organized by the ministry as part of Education for All (EFA) week celebrations.

The walk started from China Chowk and concluded in front of Parliament House. A large number of students, teachers, parents, representatives of public and private-sector organizations participated in the walk.

The minister claimed that EFA goals would surely be achieved as the government had prepared a comprehensive plan worth Rs430 billion to be implemented at national, provincial and district level. Under the EFA, the government has to universalize primary level education in the country by 2015.

It is worth mentioning here that according to studies conducted by international organizations, Pakistan is unlikely to achieve Education for All goals.

Mr Qazi said there was no supernatural system which could enhance literacy rate of the country overnight.

“First time in the history of the country, the present government has accorded top priority to education along with the development of other social sectors,” he said.

The minister said more than 45 per cent of the total educational allocations were earmarked for primary education. For integration of national education system, 75 per cent religious seminaries would be mainstreamed by 2010 thus reducing disparities between public and private education institutions.

At preset 50 million adult population of the country was illiterate which was one of the main factors behind growing terrorism in the country.

He said in order to reduce unemployment and improve living standards of the common man, the government would establish National Technical and Vocational Training Authority (NTVTA) before the coming budget and set up technical training centres at tehsil level.

He further maintained that these centres would provide training to the unemployed youth in all those trades that were of high demand in the market.

Talking to journalists, the minister said in total Pakistan received $1,527 million from international donors for education sector. These donors were satisfied with the effective utilization of funds, he added.

The minister said national curriculum needed major overhauling as it was not able to meet present-day market demands, adding that the present education system was supply- driven and he would turn it into demand-driven.

The present education system had been producing mere unemployed graduates rather than skilled manpower which resulted in loss of faith and credibility of the parents in the system.

In future, emphasis would be to turn the present aimless and purposeless educational system into a meaningful, credible and realistic one, which could compete with international standers, he said.