ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on Tuesday approved the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) Bill under which the government wants to set up an institution of excellence for wide ranging research, assessment, training and management information system in the education sector.

The headquarters of PIE will be in Islamabad. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education, which met with Mian Najeebud Awaisi in the chair, approved the bill.

According to the statement of object and reasons of the bill, the government has decided to merge the Academy of Educational Planning and Management and the National Assessment System to establish the PIE which will take over the merged function of both the organisations.

Briefing the meeting, Additional Secretary Federal Education and Professional Training Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani said the PIE would be an institution of excellence meant for wide ranging research, assessment, training and management information system in education. He said the PIE will forge a national consensus with respect to a long-term agenda for education, research, development, dissemination through collaborative efforts.

The main functions of the institute include comprehensive education data collection, analysis and reporting at the national and international levels to support policy, planning and research as well as for future education reforms.

Secretary says it will carry out wide ranging research, assessment and training in education sector

“The institute will also capture all outputs of the education sector for analysis, including learning systems, summative assessment and standardized scores,” he said.

After deliberations, the committee unanimously recommended that the bill may be passed by the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, the committee discussed the current admission policy in the schools in Islamabad.

The committee was briefed on admission policy as besides parents many lawmakers had complained that students were not being given admissions in schools and colleges of their choice.

Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) Director General Dr Ikram Ali Malik told the committee that children living of the residents of Islamabad and federal government/semi-government employees were eligible for admission in the location as close as possible to their residences. He said priority was given to the residents of same union council/sector whichever the case may be. However, children belonging to same family were accorded preference for admission in institutions where their brothers/sisters were already enrolled.

He said admission tests were conducted in institutions where the number of applicants exceeded the intake capacity of the institution. The committee decided to take up the matter in every meeting and its members will visit the FDE for a briefing on the admission policy.

Earlier, the committee deferred the ‘Pakistan Global Institute Bill 2021’ (government bill) and the ‘NCS-Institute of Sciences Bill 2021’ (moved by MNA James Iqbal) till its next meeting.

On the request of the parliamentary secretary, the committee also deferred an agenda item regarding the Single National Curriculum (SNC) as the federal minister, Shafqat Mahmood, will brief the members on it in the next meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2021