PESHAWAR, Jul 22 (APP): Provincial Minister for Education Faisal Khan Tarakai has directed the Education Monitoring Authority (EMA) to further enhance its monitoring with main focus on provision of facilities in schools, ensuring the attendance of teachers and students and enhancing educational activities.
He expressed these views while presiding over a review meeting of the EMA which was attended by Special Secretary Education Asfandyar Khattak, Additional Secretary Jehangir Azam and other officials of the Authority.
The minister said that policy-level decisions for schools and students are made on the basis of the authority’s data, and significant goals had been achieved due to the authority’s excellent performance.
The provincial education minister said that the monitoring of double-shift schools programs, details of girls’ community schools and monthly visits also fall under the Authority’s responsibilities. He added that the provision of furniture in schools, availability of free textbooks, details of admission campaigns and information about vacant positions had been diligently managed by the Authority’s employees, which was commendable.
He said that steps would be taken to modernize the Authority, including providing advanced training and IT equipment to its employees.
While briefing by officials of the Authority, it was told that they were monitoring a total of 34,633 schools, including those in merged districts, with 192,141 teachers and 57,522 non-teaching staff. The system also includes the monitoring of 5,840,403 students, they told and mentioned that due to the Authority’s effective measures, the teachers’ absenteeism and the number of temporarily closed schools have significantly decreased. Additionally, the provision of water and other facilities in schools have been identified, for which the Education Department has taken practical steps, the officials told.
The provincial minister lauded the performance of the Authority and assured that its employees’ issues would be resolved.