UNESCO and education in Peshawar

UNESCO and education in Peshawar

Al-Bab Report

Peshawar: After the successful organization of national and provincial consultations in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, UNESCO, UNICEF, the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training in collaboration with the Provincial Elementary & Secondary Education Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and UNHCR organized the third provincial consultation workshop on Sustainable Development Goal – 4 (SDG) “the Education 2030 Agenda” in Peshawar.

More than 150 officials and representatives from the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, Provincial and District Education Departments, development partners’ community, civil society organisations, academia and media participated in the 2-day consultation.

In his welcome remarks, Mr. Afzal Latif, Secretary Elementary and Secondary Education, Government of KP shared that the education sector plan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is almost finalized, is in line with the new education agenda. The provincial Government lends full support and commitment to its implementation process.

Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman, Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training, in his key note speech said that the Government of Pakistan has adapted a proactive approach for implementing the new Education Agenda 2030 in the country. The Prime Minister, provincial and area education ministers and provincial governments are giving the highest priority to the alignment of SDG-4 targets with the existing education sector plans and priorities. An effective coordination mechanism has been established through institutionalizing the Inter Provincial Ministerial Conference (IPMC) where decisions are made through consensus of all provinces. Highlighting the Government’s efforts for advancement of education, he shared the establishment of national Curriculum Council (NCC), revival of National Education Assessment System (NEAS), establishment of 6000 non formal schools under the auspices of National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and establishment of 14000 schools under the Basic Education Community Schools (BECS) framework.

He shared that at the federal and provincial levels, the budget allocations are substantively enhanced, which is a reflection of the commitment of the Government towards the education sector of the country. At the moment almost more than 25% of total budget is being allocated for the education. There are different political governments at the federal and provincial levels but they stand together for education as a priority agenda.

Mr. Mushtaq Ghani, Advisor to the Chief Minister on Higher Education appreciated the Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training for spearheading the new education agenda 2030. He assured his full support and commitment for alignment of the new agenda with the education sector plan. He highlighted certain initiatives of the provincial governments for decreasing drop out, increasing retention and improving the quality of education in the province.    

Addressing the participants, Muhammad Humayun, Secretary Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training stated that the formulation of the education sector plan is a significant efforts of the province, which fully encapsulates most of the SDG-4 targets. There is, however, a need to revisit the plan from the SDG-4 perspective to identify missing links and to formulate the required strategy for their integration.  

Ms. Vibeke Jensen, UNESCO’s Representative to Pakistan in her remarks described the development process of the SDG-4 (to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all) which is part of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. She said that transformative and universal in nature, the new education agenda addresses the unfinished business of the EFA targets and the education related MDGs, which reminds us our collective responsibility to ensure education caters to the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized children and youth, especially refugees, internally displaced children, stateless children and children whose right to education has been compromised by conflict and insecurity.

The provincial consultation is being held for two days. On the first day, the inaugural and plenary sessions were followed by the group work to generate intensive discussions and deliberations while focusing on awareness raising and familiarization with the SDG-4 agenda and understanding in the context of provincial sector plan priorities. The group work on the second day will be followed by more focused group work for integration of the SDG-4 with the provincial sector plan along with coordination and M&E mechanism. The main outcome of the two day consultation will be a strategic document or way forward for integration of the SDG-4 with the provincial education sector plan, which will feed into an overall national strategic framework.