April 11, 2007	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 22, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, April 10: The Senate Standing Committee on Education has underlined the need for adoption of a uniform curricula to remove the disparities in the education system.

According to a press release the committee which met a the Parliament House with Senator Razina Alam Khan in the chair was given a detailed presentation on the white paper titled “Education in Pakistan” published by the government. It also observed that a uniform system would help promote quality education and would remove the sense of deprivation at the grass-roots level.

The committee also underlined the need to formulate the education policy with a focus on the ideology of Pakistan as it has a pivotal role in improving our education system. It called upon the Ministry of Education to formulate a comprehensive education policy which encompasses all the aspects aimed at promoting quality education and is capable of overcoming the challenges posed by the globalisation.

The committee also called for developing a proper mechanism for evaluation, implementation and monitoring of the policy. The committee pointed out that the preparation of the policy had already been delayed.

The members of the committee called for promoting library culture in educational institutions so as to involve the students and teachers in more constructive manner. They were of the view that the Ministry and the stakeholders should jointly strive for achieving the targets within the stipulated time.

Regarding the constitution of non-lapsable National Literacy Fund, the committee suggested that such type of fund should also be set up at the provincial level. It also suggested that promotion of teachers should be linked with qualification as has been done by the NWFP. The committee appreciated the publication of research-based white paper and termed it as true reflection of the educational system of the country.

Earlier, senior officials of the Ministry of Education briefed the committee about the salient features of the white paper. They informed the committee that a thorough consultative process was adopted involving all the stakeholders at national, provincial and district level to chalk out a comprehensive line of action for the education policy.

It was informed that the pre-policy paper has covered all the aspects of how to make the education system of the country more qualitative and result-oriented. It was assured that the recommendations of the committee would be given due importance as it would help the Ministry to formulate a viable and widely accepted educational policy.

The meeting was attended by Senators, Dr Abdul Khaliq Pirzada, S.M. Zafar, Syed Javed Ali Shah, Dr Muhammad Said, Maulvi Agha Muhammad and Sajid Mir. Minister of State for Education, Ms Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli and senior officials of the Ministry of Education were also present.