LAHORE: Candidates belonging to various political parties have vowed to ensure quality-based education reforms in public schools of the city.

A number of candidates contesting the upcoming elections had gathered at a convention held by a non-governmental organisation, Alif Ailaan, on Friday. The politicians who participated included Senator Dr Musadiq Malik, Shaista Malik, Zulfiqar Ali Badr, Iftikhar Shahid, Asim Bhatti, Ameer Bahadur Khan Hoti, Zubair Niazi, Dr Nausheen Hamid, Zaeem Qadri, Hafiz Salman, Jibran Butt, Zikrullah Mujahid, Ameerul Azeem and Zeba Ahsan.

The participants were briefed about the educational landscape of Lahore. There were two most important factors contributing to failing education standards in Lahore, including availability of schools beyond primary access and poor quality education.

The candidates promised to introduce broad-based learning to equip children with knowledge and tools of all disciplines at school level.

They said they would focus on improving quality and also prioritise science, training of teachers and upgrade science curriculum. Steps would be taken to increase education budget and strict regulation and monitoring of both private and public schools. They also vowed to provide free education from grades I to X.

Alif Ailaan also released District Education Rankings 2017 according to which Lahore ranked at 32 nationally and 19 provincially on Education Score (that measures learning, retention and gender parity) with the learning score as low as 53.93.

Based on learning assessment conducted by Punjab Examination Commission, Lahore ranked lowest in English, mathematics and science. This could be attributed to a lack of functional science labs in 155 high and higher secondary schools.

Out of 1,202 public schools in the district, there were only 234 middle schools against 610 primary, which made up half of all public schools in Lahore. Lack of schools beyond primary levels explained why there was a steep drop in enrolment rates up the higher classes and shift of students to private schools.

The candidates agreed to a ‘charter of demands’ based on the demands of parents, teachers and community members in Lahore to improve quality of education in their respective constituencies.

The demands included upgrading schools from primary to middle, middle to high, high to higher secondary; construction of science and computer labs with complete facilities; construction of more government schools at every level; appointment of teachers for science and computers and establishment of libraries; teachers training; introduction of biometric system to ensure regular attendance of teachers; popularisation of healthy co-curricular activities in schools; increase in education budget and introduction of scholarships for needy students.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2018