July 03, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 17, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 2: The Senate’s standing committee on education on Monday suggested that the long overdue teaching allowance should be based on performance and qualifications, and not be dished out to everyone across the board.

According to a news release, the meeting, presided over by Senator Razina Alam Khan, also observed that provision of the teaching allowance would be a major incentive to bringing about a qualitative improvement in school-level education throughout the country.

Despite the announcement of the teaching allowance by the federal government over a year ago, the provincial governments are yet to implement this decision, reportedly, due to shortage of funds.

Throughout the month of May this year, the Pakistan Teachers’ United Front (PTUF), a representative body of over 800,000 school teachers in the country, staged protest demonstrations in all major cities to get the teaching allowance. The PTUF had already rejected the scheme of allowance based on performance and qualifications.

Prior to the budget announcement this year, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had promised to the protesting teachers that they would get teaching allowance “across the board” without discrimination.

Though appreciative of the new national textbook policy, the committee asked the ministry officials not only to keep an eye on the content and quality of textbooks but also to ensure their availability at affordable prices.

Ms Khan hoped that with the unfolding of the policy, printing of textbooks would be streamlined, which would help improve the quality of books. “Availability of quality and error-free books to students is absolutely vital for spreading education and literacy in the country,” she said.

In a presentation made to the Senate’s standing committee members by the ministry officials, they said the main idea behind the new textbook policy was to promote choice and competition; choice for the buyer and competition for the producer. This would improve quality, availability and result in lower prices.

The education minister, Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi, informed the meeting that all stakeholders had been taken on board and consulted before adopting the new policy and that all issues relating to it were discussed in detail.

He hoped that the new policy would attract well-educated writers and publishers so that students could get quality books.

He said the teaching allowance was being provided regularly at the federal government level but it remained the provinces’ responsibility at the provincial level.

Under the policy, the minister said, provincial textbook boards would send their books to the curriculum wing of the ministry for obtaining an NOC. The wing consists of eminent educationists who would review these books, in accordance with the National Curricula Guidelines, and only then give a go ahead to publish those books that met these criteria.