–Govt can prove its commitment by enrolling over 2.5m out-of-school children
ISLAMABAD: Education experts have stressed the need that the government should supervise and subsidise the educational institutions if it wanted to increase the literacy rate in the country.
They said this during a seminar titled ‘Quality Education and Our Responsibilities’ organized by education forum Islamabad which was attended by various stakeholders including educationists, parents and representatives of different private and public sector education associations.
The participants stressed if the government was serious to increase the quality of education, then it should enhance the existing facilities in the public sector educational institutions.
“It’s very regretting that currently, these are around 80 students getting an education while sitting in each room”, said a speaker Sadaf Zahra, adding that providing standard education in such mess atmosphere is impossible.
Zahra recalled that the situation in this regard in the private educational institutions was, however, better as they classified 20 students in each section.
While highlighting the overwhelming issues in the country education system, an education expert Akbar Yazdani said that quality education, especially in the public sector, was on the verge of collapse. He suggested that only tall claims being made by the incumbent government, like predecessors, was not enough but it’s time to do some adequate practical measures to raise the literacy level in the country.
“Currently, over 2.5 million children are out of schools and bringing them in schools is the daunting task for the government” Yazdani recalled suggesting that the government should get consult and take on board to private educational organizations other than improving facilities in the public sector to enrol all children in the schools as, he claimed, private outlets ever played very pivotal role in boosting literacy rate of the country.
Soon after he assumed the office, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced very ambitiously that the government would make its all-out efforts to enrol every child who so for remained away from the school.
The educationists said that only claims would not bring change as to alter announcement into practical was a very big challenge. “The government should give some certain sort of subsidy to educational institutions like such relief is being granted in the agriculture sector”, they suggested.
President All Pakistan School and College Association Dr Zohfran Ilhai said on the occasion that the 25 per cent of private schools’ outlets are running in the rented or leased buildings and spending major chunk of the fee, they accumulated from their students, on buildings’ rents and other utilities, adding that ultimately owners of these outlets would compel to shut down their single branches functioning in any city.
“This strategy would more increase the burden in the public sector which was already encumbered” he feared.
A parent, Mahmoona Shahid said that due to unavailability of proper facilities and quality education the parents are compelled to turn to private sector educations.
According to some reports, many public sector educational institutions in the Punjab, Sindh and even in Islamabad don’t have boundary walls and toilets too.
