QUETTA Jan 17: An amount of Rs4.25 billion have been allocated to Balochistan under education sectoral reforms, said Federal Minister for Education, Zubaida Jalal while presiding over a high-level meeting here on Thursday which reviewed the plans and prospects of ESR in Balochistan.

Speaking on the occasion, the federal minister said Balochistan was no doubt weak in economy and manpower with respect to education, but it had that much potential to be developed within a short period of a year or two.

Deploring the dissipation and stagnancy of human and financial resources in the province, she said statistics showed that these resources were frittered away mercilessly in the past, but this situation would no more be allowed to continue.

She further said there was no shortage of donors who were willing to finance development projects in Balochistan, but what was needed more was mutual cooperation and joint action to be taken honestly and sincerely for its progress.

Analysing the situation in primary education, she said it faced several problems, including lack of physical facilities, absenteeism of teachers in the rural areas, lack of dedication and motivation among teachers and un-attractive environment which had resulted in poor retention and high drop-out rate.

Describing main thrust of ESR, she said it included comprehensive literacy and poverty-reduction programme, upgradation of physical facilities in existing primary schools, improving quality of education through teachers’ education and training and enactment of compulsory primary education law.

Narrating the implementation plan, she said: “Under the devolution plan powers and functions of educational planning, management and monitoring have been decentralised to district, tehsil and local levels. Each district will prepare Education For All (EFA) plan in the light of national and provincial plans and implement it through district education and literacy departments.

Regarding monitoring of EFA plan, she said district, provincial and national EFA forums would monitor and evaluate the EFA programmes while district education department would monitor and evaluate primary education and early childhood education programmes.

Informing the participants of major education reforms under ESR, she said students who top SSC examination would be given Rs50,000 and who top FSc examination Rs0.2 million. Moreover, technical skill would be imparted to students after ninth class and a higher education commission would be set up under which universities would be given full authority.

Furthermore, textbook printing would be deregularised and curriculum from class one to ten would be revised.

Referring to implementation of ESR, she said the plan would be implemented after an agreement between the federal and provincial governments to be signed later in the day in the presence of Balochistan Governor Amirul Mulk Mengal.

Nazimeen, DCOs of all the districts of Balochistan, federal and provincial secretaries for education, additional chief secretary development, provincial secretary finance and others attended the meeting.—APP