Pakistan Education for All (EFA) Review Report 2015, aimed at ensuring systematic monitoring of progress towards achieving Education for All goals, launched in the capital on Thursday.
The report focussed to generate data for all indicators of six EFA Goals was accomplished by the Education Management Information System (NEMIS) at the Academy of Educational Planning and Management (AEPAM).
Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training Secretary Muhammad Ahsan Raja, speaking on the occasion as chief guest, said that the National EFA Review Report was an important tool for systematic and objective analysis of the achievements and challenges faced in pursing the EFA Goals.
He said that Pakistan was fully cognizant of the importance of education and the report would be instrumental to building upon the success and lessons learnt for devising more effective planning and strategies which were more inclusive and cost effective.
The secretary said key progress and achievements, such as providing free and compulsory education to all children of ages five to sixteen under Article 25 A of the Constitution, in IslamabadCapitalTerritory and its ratification by Sindh and recently, Baluchistan were milestones towards progressing in achieving EFA goals.
Besides that, he added, increase in the education budget to accelerate education related to the Millennium Development Goals through the National and Provincial Plans of Action.
Ahsan Raja applauded the efforts of the UN agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, ILO and WFP) for contributing to the preparation the report that would serve as a guiding document for different stakeholders working in the education sector. He also extended his gratitude to all the participants and lauded the efforts of millions of teachers all over the world who devoted their lives to their mission, teaching of children, youth and adults.
Sharing his remarks representatives of World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and International Labour Organization (ILO) emphasized the need for more joint efforts towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in education.
However, they applauded the Government for taking a number of initiatives to accelerate progress towards the achievement of EFA goals and stressed the need to improve the educational planning and management system of Pakistan, aligning and enrolling over five million out-of-school children and improving incentives for teachers.
Students and teachers, through speeches and poetry, paid tribute to the important role and value of teachers for the development of the country.
At the concluding session, the chief guest, Muhammad Ahsan Raja and the representative of UNESCO distributed souvenirs among the outstanding teachers from different provinces/areas in recognition of their services.
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