ISLAMABAD, April 4: Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), which has spent $300 million (Rs25 billion) in the education sector in Pakistan during the last three years, has cast doubt on the transparency in carrying out the project.

However, she said: "Considering the condition of the students and the teachers, we may renew the project but level of monitoring will be enhanced."

According to sources, Jica provided the funds for the teachers training and science labs all over the country but in some schools, there was no tangible improvement compared to claims of the administrations. Besides, the teachers who had completed training were responsible to train their colleagues in schools but they did nothing in this regard.

Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Secretary Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, Joint Secretary Rafique Tahir, Chief Representative of Jica Takatoshi Nishikata, National Institute of Science and Technical Education (Niste) Director-General Salman Khan and representatives of the four provinces participated in the seminar.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Elahi admitted some flaws in the system. He said: "My 30-year experience shows that we have failed at some stages. Politicians do not have the will and commitment. Therefore, they have never given importance to education sector nor allocated proper funds."

He said the donor agencies should come forward and invest in the education sector and provinces should also ensure inquiry-based education.

CADD Joint Secretary Rafique Tahir said after the 18th Amendment, the education ministry had been devolved to provinces so there should be a forum at the centre to coordinate with the provinces.

Deputy Director, Curriculum, Balochistan, Arif Shah said teachers' training programmes were going on at provincial level and now the project would be initiated at district level as well.

He said as many as 211 teachers of the province had visited Japan for training, suggesting that 600 teachers should be trained in each district.

Director, Curriculum, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Attaullah Khan said the provincial government had been trying to introduce interactive method of studies and for the purpose, teachers' training was necessary.

"Most of the students fail in mathematics, science and English subjects but it does not mean that students are not intelligent. In fact the teachers cannot convey knowledge to the students due to lack of proper training," he said.

Focal person of Sindh Mushtaq Ahmed said: "We have been trying to improve teaching methodologies by arranging training workshops for the teachers." He said out of a total of 144,610 teachers in Sindh, at least 5,400 should be trained in the first phase.

Additional Secretary, Department of Education, Punjab, Malik Mukhtar said the teachers had been suggested to start practical work at classroom level using low-cost material for it.

Officials of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and private schools also demanded that Jica renew the project to ensure educational promotion in Pakistan.

It is worth mentioning here that general science curriculum 2006 was Student Centered and Inquiry Based (SCIB) but most of the teachers were unfamiliar with the concept and did not have opportunities to equip themselves with new teaching methods in line with the new curriculum.

However, Jica launched three-year SCIB programme in May 2009 which culminated in the current month. During the programme, a number of workshops and seminars were organised and teachers from across the country were given training. Dawn

Jica Project Formulation Adviser, Ms Hara, while talking to , said: "Jica has invested $300 million in the project and is considering renewing it but now there would be strict monitoring because we want to ensure that maximum benefit should reach the students".