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The leadership of almost all major political parties came together in
Islamabad to commit their support for the provision of quality education
to all Pakistani children. In a landmark education conference titled
Ailaan-e-Amal, the leadership from PML-N, PPP, PTI, National Party (NP),
ANP, Jamat-e-Islami, QaumiWatan Party (QWP), PSP, MQM-P, PML-Q, JUI-F,
PKMAP, and BNP-M pledged to go beyond political differences and proceed
with a minimum national reform agenda for education.
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The national education conference was hosted by education campaign
AlifAilaan. Political representatives in the meeting included Punjab
School Education Minister Rana Mashhood, KP Education Minister Muhammad
Atif Khan, ANP’s AfrasiabKhattak and Sardar Hussain Babak, PTI’s
Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, PPP MNA Dr.AzraPechuho, MQM-P Convenor Khalid
Maqbool Siddiqui and Faisal Subzwari, JUI-F MPA Noor Saleem Khan, BNP-M’s
Senator JehanzebJamaldini, PkMap’s Senator Usman Kakar, PSP’s General
Secretary Raza Haroon, QWP’s MPA Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli and Barrister
Masroor, NP’s Senator Muhammad Akram, and PML’s Central VP Ajmal Wazir
Khan.
In a unique gathering of political leadership, the national commitment
to improving learning outcomes in schools and delivering on the State’s
obligation to provide compulsory and free education for all children
between ages of 5-16 was discussed.
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The gathered political leadership discussed and pledged their support
for a minimum reform agenda, which included
a) a continual increase in provincial and federal education spending
taking it to 4% of the GDP, supported by substantial governance reform
to ensure that the allocated funds are spent effectively and
transparently
b) a national data regime that captures data on all children in all
types of schools, which is shared openly and publicly to ensure
transparency in reform
c) Mandatory pre-service and in-service teacher training, with career
progression based on performance and training
d) All Pakistan’s children to be tested at Class 3, Class 5, and Class
8, regardless of geographical location or schooling system they are
enrolled in
e) Ensure enrolment and retention of all children between the ages of
5-16 (in primary, middle and high schools, including madrassas) and
bringing gender parity in graduation rates from primary to middle
f) Designation of “education deprived areas” for Union Councils who are
underperforming on gender parity, retention, provision of post primary
schools and quality of infrastructure
The reform agenda was detailed in a Charter for Education, which was
signed by all the present political leadership. All parties committed to
ensuring that the agreed charter was adopted into their respective
election manifestos. They also committed to developing a plan of
implementation within 100 days of the oath-taking of the future CMs
after the upcoming elections.
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PTI’s Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar stated, “In a country like Pakistan,
where 23 million children are still out of school, a national emergency
must be declared after the General Elections. We will need to set strict
targets to get them all in school and get them learning.”
PPP MNA Dr AzraPechuho was of the view that there is a need for
legislation extending beyond the provision of free and compulsory
education to legislation on quality, teacher availability and budget
utilization.
KP Minister for Education Muhammad Atif Khan said “Party leaders should
sign Ailaan-e-Amal so that their voters can hold them accountable after
the elections.”
Punjab School Education Minister Rana Mashhood stated “It is heartening
to see that all provincial governments have prioritized education since
2013 and Punjab, specifically, focused on providing quality education.”
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Data
All children, all schools
• The Annual School Census should capture data of all children enrolled
in any type of school
• The Census results should be released within three months of
collection
• The Census should also capture data for (standardized) learning
outcomes at the school level
• The existing monitoring data sets should be publicly available in real
time
• Registration of birth / Educational Reg # / Utilize existing
database(s)
Access
Post-primary
• Ensure retention throughout the 5-16 age (primary, middle and high
schools), including madrasahs
• Gender parity in graduation rates from primary to middle
• Mandatory provision of boundary walls, water, and latrines in all
girls’ middle and high schools on emergent basis
• From ages 9 and above ensure transportation facilities for all girls
eligible for middle and high schools
Deprived areas
• Designation of ‘education deprived area’ of the least performing Union
Councils based on the following criteria:*
o Gender parity (total number of girls enrolled in school as a
percentage of total number of boys in school in the given UC)
o Retention rate (percentage of grade 4 students retained as a
proportion of grade 2 students in schools in the given UC)
o Post-primary to primary schools (number of middle and high schools as
a proportion of primary schools in the given UC)
o Infrastructural facilities (percentage of schools with availability of
water, toilet, boundary wall and electricity in the given UC)
• Clear guidelines on how to address inadequacies
• Role of national instruments to support education deprived areas
* Out of total 11,194 total union councils in Pakistan, using the above
mentioned criteria 1,120 least performing ‘education deprived union
councils’ have been identified. Excluding the UCs for which complete
data was not available, a composite index was prepared where each of the
above mentioned category was given equal weightage (25%).
Teachers
• Head teachers for all schools to be given management training
• Standard career plan for all recruited teachers and clear distinction
between teaching paths and management paths
• All parties reaffirm merit based recruitment and will work to deny any
opportunity for teacher recruitment on any basis other than merit
Quality
• Mandatory pre-service teacher training for all recruited
teachers prior to deployment
• Periodic modern and needs based in-service teacher training
• Enabling peer-learning networks at Tehsil/Taluka level
• Promotions should be based on testing and performance of teachers
• Non-Salary Budget for school-based quality initiatives
Financing
More money, better spent
• 4% of GDP commitment to be restated
• All provinces to commit a minimum of 20% of their budget annually
• Education budgets must be released in a timely manner each month
• Education budgets must be utilised more effectively
• Education departments and local governments must report on a quarterly
basis so that budget performance is tracked and laggards are identified
in a timely manner
• Schools as cost-centers – beginning with at least high schools….
devolved fiscal transfers and responsibilities
• Transparency in budget numbers, publicly available utilization data
Transformation
Dramatic, not incremental
• Parties to adopt charter and reflect it in their manifestos
• Charter to be agreed with a plan for implementation within 100 days of
the CMs’ oath-taking after the 2018 general elections
• Pledge to implement a program for frequent and sustained Education
Review process by the Secretaries, Ministers, and Chief Ministers, in
consultation with civil society
Learning outcomes
• All children to be tested at the class 3, class 5, and class 8
level regardless of geographical location or system of schooling based
on national minimal standards
• Reading/Comprehension, maths and science skills to be prioritized
• Problem solving and creativity
• Social skills and ethics
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