Shafqat holds dialogue with WB President on child education

ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (APP):Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood led a critical dialogue with World Bank (WB) President David Malpass and his high level delegation for ensuring all Pakistani children can read by age ten.

The meeting was also attended by Planning Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Provincial Education and Finance Ministers, along with their Secretaries.

The two sides discussed critical actions that were required by the government to help Pakistan come out of its ‘learning poverty’, said a press release issued here on Thursday.

It was agreed that helping children achieve their full learning potential was critical and requires effective use of technical and financial resources.

Shafqat Mahmood highlighted that quality education was the single key factor required for building human capital.

The government was ensuring equality of opportunities geographically and across various streams of education, he added.

He highlighted the role of Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) in building a national consensus on key reform areas, especially uniformity in curriculum standards and its implementation.

The minister also mentioned that plans were underway to reorganize the Ministry to set up a Policy and Research Unit to analyse critical information on students learning outcomes, school data and education financing from across Pakistan to ensure better policy and decision making.

The Minister for Planning and provincial ministers also discussed with World Bank, the programs they had launched and the challenges as well to progress the learning outcomes in their respective domains.

The World Bank launched its ambitious “Leaning Target” this year in the annual meetings held in October 2019.

The World Bank President emphasized the need for coordination in political, financial and management approaches to ensure countries can bring students back to school and improve learning outcomes to enhance productivity and economic growth.

“World Bank will continue its support and keen to work with Pakistan on the programs discussed in the meeting”, he concluded.

Shafqat Mahmood concluded the meeting by appreciating World Bank support for education reforms and affirmed that he is looking forward to an active engagement with WB at the federal level to accelerate human development.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Federal and Provincial Ministers for joining this immensely important discussion to end learning poverty across the country.