KP govts enrolment drive to prove a success, says official

[Pakistan1992]

PESHAWAR: A senior official has said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments enrolment campaign would prove a milestone to get each and every child of the province into the school.

Our target is zero children out of school, said Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Secretary Joudat Ayaz while talking to the officials of Education Department and representatives of national and international non-governmental organisations at the Pakhtunkhwa House in Islamabad on Saturday.

The meeting was aimed at getting input and support of the civil society organisations and experts in the field of education to make the enrolment drive a success set for September 8 in connection with International Literacy Day.

This time, we will refrain from doing stereotype things we have been witnessing for the last six decades. We, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, are committed to

taking some sustainable steps to improve literacy rate in our province, he said, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman has shown his willingness to be a part of this campaign as well.

He added that it would not be a single-party venture, but all the political forces must become part of this national cause.The provincial secretary told the meeting that roughly 1.5 to 2 million kids, within 5-9 years age bracket, are out of schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and even targeting 30 percent of them would bring 0.5 million children to schools.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, we will have to use technology and management data to better allocate students as some schools are under utilised while others have less capacity so we can accommodate another 20 to 30 percent students using the same schools, he said.An average 272 students are accommodated in a school in Punjab while in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the average of students in a school is 136, he added.

A well-devised monitoring mechanism would be put in place to keep a close eye on the dropouts and a competitive rating system shall be put in place to encourage a healthy competition within districts as best performing districts and their DEOs would be recognised, he said. Joudat Ayaz further added that strict measures would be taken to put a permanent damper on corporal punishment to ensure that no child leaves school because of this very reason.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-Ne...olment-drive-to-prove-a-success-says-official

 

[Pakistan1992]

Education for all: State of south Punjab schools abysmal

LAHORE .: The governments Jahalat Say Azaadi drive, launched last month, aims to bring out-of-school children toschool. However, recent surveys have revealed that the situation in south Punjab, which has the worst education indicators, is still abysmal.
The Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) took a household survey in April this year to identify out-of-school children in eight union councils in Bahawalpur, Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalnagar. It found that more than 43,319 children aged five to 10, out of the 104,000 children surveyed, were out of school. RSPN Education Campaign Manager Nasreen Sheikh said there was an acute shortage of facilities at schools.

As many as 32 per cent of the children surveyed in Bahawalnagar and 34 per cent of those children in Dera Ghazi Khan were out of school, 48 per cent in Rajanpur and 56 per cent in Bahawalpur.

National Rural Support Programme District Project Officer Salman Hyder said that poverty and unemployment were some of the reasons why parents were reluctant to send their kids to school. Many children in this region contribute to the household income, he said, Parents want to know the returns from education before they send their children to school.
NRSP Project Coordinator for Rajanpur Akhtar Hussain said that without a sufficient number of teachers, toilets, boundary walls and electricity at schools, the situation could not improve.

The Annual Status of Education Report for 2012 had reported that 30 per cent of the children aged six to 16 in these districts were as out-ofschool. The percentage is 31 for DG Khan, 32 for Rajanpur and 35 for Rahim Yar Khan.

There is no political will to bring about a positive change at the district level, Idara-i-Taleem-o-Aagahi Programme Manager Safyan Jabbar said.

The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency published a paper Development Funds for South Punjab in November 2010. It stated that the allocation of Annual Development Program (ADP) funds to 11 districts in south Punjab, as a percentage of the total ADP for Punjab, had decreased from 23.3 per cent to 14 per cent between 2003-2004 and 2007-2008.


The ADP funds allocated in 2003-2004 were Rs7.1 million of a total Rs30.5 million. The funds for south Punjab were Rs22 million out of Rs150 million allocated for the province in 2007-2008. The paper mentioned that the student to teacher ratio in south Punjab was 45:1, whereas the average ratio for the province was 40:1.


Sir Michael Barber, special representative of the Department for International Development, shared his findings on the Punjab Schools Reform Roadmap, approved in 2010, in his report The Good News from Pakistan. He said that by January 2013, there were more than 1.5 million new children enrolled in schools and 81,000 teachers had been recruited. The percentage of schools with basic facilities had increased from 69 per cent in August 2011 to 90 per cent in 2013. Student attendance had increased from 83 per cent in 2011 to 92 per cent by 2011. The paper however stressed the need for funds to reach south Punjab. It mentioned that the lowest percentage of functioning facilities in schools was in DG Khan (77 per cent) and Rajanpur (75 per cent). The lowest enrolment of five to nine-year olds in the province was reported in Muzaffargarh, Rahim Yar Khan, DG Khan and Rajanpur- 60 per cent- the lowest. Neglect, lack of access, poverty and meagre resources were some of the reasons Ali Ahmed, a research fellow at the Institute of

Social and Policy Sciences (ISAPS), mentioned as being responsible for the state of education in south Punjab. If education cant offer a solution to survival in poverty stricken areas, why would parents be attracted to it? he said, Even if children were sent to school they were not provided an environment conducive to learning.


The ISAPS profiles of Multan and Rajanpur districts indicated a lack of facilities in schools. In Multan, where 41 per cent of children aged five to 16 were out of school, the profile indicated that 87 schools were without drinking water, 126 schools had no toilets, 178 had no boundary walls and 517 of them did not have electricity. The indicators were worse for Rajanpur. With 54 per cent of the children out of school, 35 schools were without a building and children sat in the open. As many as 300 schools did not have drinking water, 258 did not have toilets, 276 did not have boundary walls and 963 schools were without electricity. Ali said that there was no denying that the enrolment drive was a step in the right direction, but it would not be fruitful if attention was not paid to the retention and transition of students.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/598861/education-for-all-state-of-south-punjab-schools-abysmal/

 

[Imranpak]

As in the west parents should be held responsible if children fail to attend school for no good reason. There should be financial penalties for parents who for cultural reasons see educating their kids as being backward. Education for every Pakistani should be made mandatory, period. Girls in particular from rural area's should be in school with incentives and rewards for the brightest students.

 

[Pukaar]

Education is compulsory for all Muslims; men and women. Govt responsibility is to provide Schools and means for children to study. Is ke baad bhi agar koi bachoon ko school nahi bhejta to woh Allah ki na-farmani kar raha hay. Us ka hisaab us ke saath.

 

[Rizwan2009]

بچوں کو سکول ميں تعليم دلوانا رياست کي ذمہ داري ہوتي ہے اگر والدين بچوں کو تعليم نہيں دلوانا چاہتے تو رياست کو مداخلت کرکے زبردستي بچوں کو سکول ميں داخل کرنا چاہئے اور اگر اس کي وجہ معاشي مجبوري ہے تو ايسے بچوں کا وظيفہ مقرر کرنا چاہئے تاکہ والدين يہ نہ کہ سکيں کہ ہمارے بچے غربت کي وجہ سے نہيں پڑھ سکتے
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[CA 5 O]

kero copy nooreyo.