ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (APP): The State Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Wajiha Qamar, stated on Sunday that the government remains steadfast in its commitment to evidence-based and actionable policymaking.
She emphasized the need for a more integrated approach to reach children who are entirely neglected, marginalized, and lack social identification.
The Minister shared these views while addressing a policy dialogue titled “The Equity Equation: Advanced Data Systems for Education Planning.” The event was organized by the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) in collaboration with LUMS and the Pak Alliance for Maths and Science.
The primary objective of the event was to introduce cutting-edge tools, such as predictive modeling, to address the crisis of Pakistan’s 25 million out-of-school children. This initiative, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, is designed to predict household-level educational decisions influenced by economic and social barriers.
Research is futile unless it is linked to practical challenges, and ideas are meaningless until they are translated into implementation frameworks,” the State Minister remarked.
Dr. Muhammad Shahid Soroya, Director General of PIE, described the massive number of out-of-school children as an “educational emergency” requiring proactive measures. He noted that this advanced technology will play a pivotal role in executing the recently approved National Education Action Plan.
The new system allows policymakers to determine the efficacy of various interventions—such as transport subsidies versus school construction—before allocating resources.
Experts from LUMS (Dr. Farah Nadeem, Dr. Faisal Bari, and Dr. Zubair Khalid) presented a dashboard highlighting causes for school dropouts, including costs, safety concerns, and family dynamics.A formal agreement was reached among stakeholders to adopt these modern methodologies as pilot projects.Joint programs will be established to enhance the data-handling capabilities of government units.
The project, supported by the British organization FCDO, is being hailed as a revolutionary shift in Pakistan’s educational planning. It marks a transition toward a future where data determines the most effective path to ensuring every child has access to a classroom.