ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The British High Commissioner to Pakistan Jane Marriott met the Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui in Islamabad on Thursday.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary Education Mohyuddin Wani and the Country Director British Council James Hampson.
Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that the Ministry of Education is working on a programme that aims to declare education emergency in Pakistan.
The education minister said that the number of Out of School children of 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 urbanisation slums in major cities are propping up. He said that these slums are ignored in every education policy.
The minister 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.
In addition, he said that we need to bring all the stakeholders especially donors on the same platform so that all the effort can be channelled and streamlined. He said that we are burning the midnight oil in ensuring that the cause of education becomes one of the main agendas of national effort towards progress.
The British High Commissioner Jane Marriott said that UK and Pakistan are the oldest partners and have been shoulder to shoulder since 1947. She informed the minister that UK encourages expansion of its green programme which can lead to an increase in enrolment of Pakistan students in UK universities via distance learning.
Jane Marriott 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.
The Secretary Education Mohyuddin Wani highlighted that 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 concreted effort on the way to ensure that a single platform can align and channel the effort of all stakeholders in the education sector of Pakistan.
Khalid Maqbool said that we have 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 UK to help in attaining IT certification for these IT trained professional that would be recognised globally.
Furthermore, he said that it is imperative that the mental health of our students is 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.
The minister 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.
The Country Director British Council James Hompson told the minister that after China the biggest British Council Programme is in Pakistan. He requested the minister that the Global Chief Executive of British Council will be visiting Pakistan in May and would like to visit him.
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 with respect to increasing educational outreach programmes for slums in the metropolitan cities of the Country.
