British High Commissioner calls on Education Minister

ISLAMABAD: British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott called on Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Thursday to discuss the opportunities and challenges being faced by the country in the education sector.

The meeting was attended by Secretary Education Mohyuddin Wani and Country Director British Council James Hampson.

Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that the Ministry of Education is working on a programme that aims to declare an education emergency in Pakistan.

He said that the number of out-of-school children in Pakistan is ballooning and the only way to address this issue is by making it a national agenda. The minister said that due to rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, slums in major cities are propping up. He said that these slums are ignored in every education policy, the official news agency reported.

He highlighted the importance of ensuring that no child should be left behind. He encouraged the UK to provide support in the cause of eliminating out-of-school children.

“We need to bring all the stakeholders, especially the donors, on the same platform so that all the effort can be channelised and streamlined, Khalid Maqbool added.

“We are burning the midnight oil in ensuring that the cause of education becomes one of the main agendas of national effort towards progress.”

High Commissioner Marriott said the UK and Pakistan are the oldest partners and have been shoulder to shoulder since 1947. She informed the minister that the UK encourages expansion of its green programme which can lead to an increase in enrolment of Pakistani students in the UK universities via distance learning.

She also informed the minister that Google Education is highly interested in supporting Pakistan in its bid to address the issue of access to education.

The British high commissioner and the education minister also discussed the challenges and opportunities that come with the devolution of education to the provinces.

Education Secretary Mohyuddin Wani highlighted that the Ministry of Education is developing a comprehensive plan which will declare an education emergency in the country and will furthermore align all the stakeholders on the same page.

He said that all the donors and NGOs operating in Pakistan are working in silos and compartments. He said that there is a concerted effort on the way to ensure that a single platform can align and channel the efforts of all stakeholders in the education sector of Pakistan.

Khalid Maqbool said that the government has set a target to train one million youth in the IT sector. He said that he hopes that in the medium term, Pakistan will become one of the biggest suppliers of IT professionals to the world.

He asked the United Kingdom to help in attaining IT certification for IT-trained professionals that would be recognised globally.

Furthermore, he said that the mental health of the students must be also catered to by professionals. He said that the education ministry aims to establish mental health awareness and support desks in all of the colleges in Islamabad.

He said that efforts have been underway to address the education woes of Pakistan, however, more effort and more focus is still required.

He told the British high commissioner that a National Nutrition Program in Islamabad has also been launched to increase enrolment. He said that expense on education is not expenditure but investment.

James Hompson, Country Director British Council, told the minister that after China, the biggest British Council program is in Pakistan. He requested Khalid Maqbool that the global chief executive of the British Council would visit Pakistan in May and would like to visit the minister.

The federal minister welcomed the initiative from the British Council and expressed a deep desire to enhance collaboration between the British Council and Pakistan, especially concerning increasing educational outreach programs for slums in the metropolitan cities of the country.