ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is lagging behind other South Asian countries in education and has a poor Adjudged Net Enrolment Rate (ANER) and a high school dropout rate, said Nasir Amin, the in-charge of National Education Management Information System (NIMS).

Speaking at the National Convention of Parents on Monday, Mr Amin said that the education system can be revived and revolutionised with help from the public.

He said that Pakistan has a 72pc ANER rate, 69pc of students in the country remain is schools and that the effective transition ratio from class five to six is 81pc, which, he said, is not satisfactory.

However, he said that with more active participation from parents, Pakistan can achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which is for ensuring inclusive and quality education for all.

Speakers at a seminar stress the involvement of parents, community in developing the sector

Mr Amin said that all South Asian countries, except Nepal, had made visible progress with regards to education and that Pakistan was lagging behind with 24 million children still out of school.

Other speakers, too emphasised on the importance of parent involvement for improving the education sector.

Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Engr Balighur Rehman said the education sector is facing challenges which the federal and provincial governments are trying to overcome.

“Though it is still alarming that 24 million children are out of school, the good news is that this number has decreased from 26 million in 2013,” he said, adding that only 28pc of the children enrolled in grade 1 reach the 10th grade.

“Regardless of improvements in public school facilities, most of the dropouts still take place during the first five years of schooling,” he said.

The minister said a lot remains to be done as 44pc of schools do not have electricity supply, 34pc do not have drinkable water, 30pc do not have boundary walls and 28pc do not have bathroom facilities, among other things.

Department for International Development Deputy Country Head Judith Herbertson in her speech said all children deserve to be treated equally, especially with regard to access to education.

She said it was very inspiring that despite limited resources and weak infrastructure, Pakistani students are committed to getting an education and added that parents’ role is imperative in improving the education sector.

Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) Shoaib Sultan Khan said community mobilisation is the key to success in social development.

He said no matter how much attention is given to political and administrative aspects, community development cannot be achieved and the lives of the poor cannot be changed if the social aspect is not given attention.

The convention was hosted by RSPN in collaboration with Alif Ailaan under the ‘Parents Ittehad as Critical Mass to Demand Access to Quality Education’ project.

A panel discussion on ‘Can community participation be an effective tool to address the state of education crisis in Pakistan?’ was also held which was moderated by Alif Ailaan’s Campaign Director Mosharraf Zaidi and during which RSPN CEO Shandana H. Khan, Parwaan ECED Network Representative Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, Senior Programme Officer Education OSF Nargis Sultana and Abbas Rashid of SAHE expressed their views on the role of communities in educational development.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2016