ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood has given the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) one weeks time to devise a strategy to enroll the 30,000 children who are out of school in the federal capital.
The minister expressed great concern over the huge number of out of school children and directed the officials to chalk-out a plan to ensure the enrolment of these children at the earliest.
He issues the directives during his visit to the FDE here on Wednesday; where he was given a detailed briefing about the performance of the directorate.
The minister put special emphasis on the use of technology in educational institutes and directed that the same technology should be used in rural and remote schools where there is a shortage of capable teachers.
He said that local teachers should only work as facilitators and that an arrangement should be made by incorporating modern technology to provide the best education to students of far flung areas.
He was informed that there are 71 semi-technology distance learning schools being run with support of Jazz and Mobilink.
Additionally, he was also informed that there are two complete technology schools being run by an NGO in Tarnol, where the minister has decided to pay a visit within the next few days.
He recommended that the officials of the government schools located in remote areas be consulted to ensure the introduction of technological systems as well.
He further directed to start second shift classes in remote areas where there are no middle or high schools, their teachers be given incentives so that no child leaves education halfway due to the non-presence of teaching staff and that a plan be prepared for street children as well as for adults and especially for girls.
Shafqat said that the whole system in the FDE should be computerised, biometric and e-filing within six months.
The minister also expressed concern about fee hikes in private schools and advised the Private Educational Institute Regulatory Authority (PEIRA) to ensure fee in private institutes at an affordable level. He was informed that the matter is already in court and a strategy would be hammered out once the court gave its decision in this regard.
He was also informed that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in its final judgment on January 19, 2018, has struck down major provisions of Rules, 2016 regarding regulation and fee determination of PEIs.
The PEIRA officials said that in October, 2018, the Supreme Court (SC) summoned all pending litigation in various high courts of the country, relating to private schools/fees. In its hearing dated October 16, 2018, the SC has constituted a committee, having representation of all stakeholders to discuss and deliberate various issues and suggest possible solutions including maximum and minimum fee to be charged by private schools depending on location, facilities provided and quality of education along with permissible increase of fee on annual basis.
Moreover, the minister inquired about publishing and printing of textbooks. He ordered that a complete report regarding the tender and printing process be furnished to him within four days.
