ISLAMABAD: A Senate panel on Tuesday called for a uniform curriculum for all students in the country.

The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training, chaired by Senator Rahila Magsi, met at Parliament House, where the participating senators agreed that a uniform education system is needed in the country.

There is currently significant difference in the standards and quality of education in Pakistan, where the schooling system consists of public sector and private sector schools – the latter divided into high and low fee charging institutions – as well as seminary schools.

Committee members said a national curriculum is needed while discussing a bill moved by Senator Ateeq Shaikh seeking amendments to the 2013 Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Private Educational Institutions Act.

Senator Mushahid Hussain said that a uniform curriculum is needed for national integration, while Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak argued that education should not have been devolved to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.

Educational Minister Shafqat Mehmood said his ministry has been taking steps in collaboration with the provinces to make new policies.

The committee members praised the minister’s work on the three different kinds of education systems, and the even higher number of curriculums, in the country and called for a uniform curriculum.

The committee also recommended amendments to the ICT Private Educational Institutions Act proposed by Senator Shaikh.

The ICT Private Educational Institutions (Registration and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill 2016 seeks a 3pc quota for free education for children of single women in private schools. It also proposes new conditions for the registration of private schools, including that an institution not charge students fees higher than those charged in the preceding academic year.

The bill also says that the admission or security fees should not exceed the amount equal to tuition fee payable by students for a month.

“An institution shall not require the parents to purchase textbooks, uniform or other material from a particular shop or provider,” the bill states.

In his bill, Senator Shaikh said that in pursuance of the provisions of Article 35 of the Constitution, and in view of the rising number of single mothers – divorced or widowed with children – it is the responsibility of the state to provide deprived children with free educational opportunities in the private sector as well.

He added that that it has been observed over the last year or so that private institutions in Islamabad are charging high fees from parents along with additional dues under various heads.

“This has become a source of constant exploitation of parents,” he said.

The bill was passed after a detailed discussion by the committee.

The senators also recommended Senator Quratulain Marri’s Trained Paramedical Staff Facility Bill 2018, which proposed that the federal government ensure that trained paramedics are provided to all educational institutions to provide immediate medical assistance and first aid when the need arises.

Private educational institutions would ensure the provision of paramedics on the premises so students in need of medical aid may be assisted immediately, the bill said.

Earlier during the meeting, the senators discussed The Area Study Centre (Amendment) Bill 2017, which was moved by Senator Muzaffar Hussain Shah.

The bill is aimed at making area study centres affiliated with various universities independent, as they were between 1974 and 2002 before being brought under universities through an amendment.

The bill proposed that area study centres would be autonomous bodies working independently to conduct research, symposiums, degree awards and foreign police guidelines for the government.

The minister said that before moving ahead, the ministry would conduct a comparative study of the performance of these centres before and after 2002, and bring the findings to the committee by mid-January.

The committee also discussed amendments to the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act proposed by Senator Samina Saeed related to a better environment for children with dyslexia, but did not approve it as committee members felt the move should come in the form of independent legislation and not an amendment.

Senators also heard a petition filed by a National University of Modern Languages (Numl) who said the defence of his PhD thesis was held in 2016 but he was not being issued a degree. A Numl official said the student published his work after the deadline, which was why the university was not considering his case.

The committee referred the case back to the university to review it.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018