Islamabad—Federal Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada said, here on Thursday said according to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Pakistan has the largest number of out-of-school children in South Asia with the majority being girls.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), held at Planning Commission, he said, “Pakistan continues to perform extremely poorly in education and we are seen to be off track in terms of meeting the education targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).”
The Minister said the ASER 2011 data gave us district by district vital information on gender desegregated details that can help in planning and more importantly mobilizing resources according to required needs.
Riaz Pirzada appreciated the South Asian Forum for Education (SAFED), National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi as well as the development partners, the Department for International Development (DFID), the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) Pakistan and Oxfam Novib for supporting this extremely critical participatory initiative. He said they provided us support for enabling our citizens and state to become aware of the current status of education in the country and the challenges faced by children from age group of 3 to 16.
The Federal Minister said, “As we approach 2015 the target date for fulfillment of MDGs and EFA, ASER Pakistan is indeed a persuasive tool to gauge challenges and progress in education annually”.
He said the timing of release of the ASER Reports each January is quite appropriate for informing the planning and budgeting processes.
Riaz Pirzada said, “As we step into the election year, I believe it is extremely necessary to make education as the highest priority in the electoral debates.”
It is that single most important sector that would lead to significant gains in vital indicators of health, population, environment, gender empowerment, economic growth and democratic participation for sustainable societies, he added.
The Minister said, “I believe, movement like ASER provide us with an excellent opportunity to make education a centerpiece for political debates, provide a sound rationale for raising resource allocations and expenditures for measurable improvement”.
Addressing the launching ceremony of Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER), held at Planning Commission, he said, “Pakistan continues to perform extremely poorly in education and we are seen to be off track in terms of meeting the education targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All (EFA).”
The Minister said the ASER 2011 data gave us district by district vital information on gender desegregated details that can help in planning and more importantly mobilizing resources according to required needs.
Riaz Pirzada appreciated the South Asian Forum for Education (SAFED), National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi as well as the development partners, the Department for International Development (DFID), the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) Pakistan and Oxfam Novib for supporting this extremely critical participatory initiative. He said they provided us support for enabling our citizens and state to become aware of the current status of education in the country and the challenges faced by children from age group of 3 to 16.
The Federal Minister said, “As we approach 2015 the target date for fulfillment of MDGs and EFA, ASER Pakistan is indeed a persuasive tool to gauge challenges and progress in education annually”.
He said the timing of release of the ASER Reports each January is quite appropriate for informing the planning and budgeting processes.
Riaz Pirzada said, “As we step into the election year, I believe it is extremely necessary to make education as the highest priority in the electoral debates.”
It is that single most important sector that would lead to significant gains in vital indicators of health, population, environment, gender empowerment, economic growth and democratic participation for sustainable societies, he added.
The Minister said, “I believe, movement like ASER provide us with an excellent opportunity to make education a centerpiece for political debates, provide a sound rationale for raising resource allocations and expenditures for measurable improvement”.
