Pakistan's deteriorating education system has radicalised many young people while failing to equip them with the skills necessary for a modern economy. The public, government-run schools, which educate the vast majority of children poorly rather than the madrasas (religious seminaries) or the elite private schools are where significant reforms and an increase in resources are most needed to reverse the influence of jihadi groups, reduce risks of internal conflict and diminish the widening fissures in Pakistani society. Both the government and donors urgently need to need give this greater priority.
Achieving gender equality and women’s rights depends on transformative change that uproots discriminatory policies, norms and practices, wherever they lie. This is the high ambition of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the promise of the Beijing Platform for Action, agreed at the Fourth World Conference on Women more than two decades ago.
The Government of Balochistan shares the national commitment with regard to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and achieving Education for All (EFA) objectives, agreed upon at International forums. It has been making utmost efforts to provide access to quality education, to all the children at their threshold. The Government has dedicated handsome investment to achieve its targets. The donors have also been making significant interventions for promotion of education in the province. However it was observed that all these endeavors could not make required impact. The devolution of education to the provinces under 18th amendment in the constitution of Pakistan and introduction of Article 25A necessitated to review and revisit the approaches, so far adopted, for promotion of Education.
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The goal for a well-functioning education system is quality education for all children, in an inclusive and conducive learning environment. Such a system provides children with convenient access to school so that they are able to enrol, continue their schooling, and learn well enough to gain meaningful employment and to contribute to society. Ideally, it means getting children into school at the right age, establishing a strong foundation for future learning, and building upon that foundation with age and context appropriate material, taught by competent and responsive teachers, in well-resourced classrooms. It means regularly collecting data on schooling and learning outcomes and using this data to inform continuous improvement. It also means providing targeted support to enable all students to stay in school, and to learn well, regardless of their personal limitations.
In an invigorating reform environment in the province and with school education completely under the ambit of the provinces after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, Punjab School Education (SED) has been a primary focus area for the provincial government. In April 2011, Government of Punjab announced the School Education Reforms Roadmap with the objective to ensure quality education to all and 100% enrolment and retention of all school going age children. The Punjab School Education Sector Plan (PSESP) has been developed in order to strategize and provide an operational plan to implement the school education reforms for improving the quality, access and governance of education in the province. The document lays the path for achievement of the goals of Article 25-A.