Daily Times

Punjab’s Education Minister, Rana Sikandar Hayat Thursday said that all-out measures would be taken to standardise the education system in public schools of Punjab where for better policies, the first school mapping programme to collect data about all school kids will be conducted soon transparently.

Talking to a Private news channel, he stressed on conducting school census at the national level, adding that the Punjab government is taking the lead among all other provinces and recently with the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif school mapping was being conducted to count kids.

Through NADRA data will be checked about the enrollment data of students at every district level, he said, adding that long-term policy-making for government schools and enhancing the quality of education will be the top priority of the Punjab government. He also praised that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also announced the formation of a 19-member Education Task Force to address the pressing issues related to the national education emergency which is another historic step. He said that collective efforts of all provinces related to out-of-school children’s need of hour, adding, that Punjab government authorities are collaborating with other provinces in this regard. Replying to a question, he mentioned that the government is also conducting an inter-provincial education conference next month to devise a national strategy to bring improvement in the education system across the country.

He said education ministers of all the provinces and other stakeholders would be invited to the conference and to find out consensus-based solutions to address the education system. To another question, he stressed the need to devise a strategy for education and skill-based training programmes for public schools, adding that the prime minister had a vision of creating employment opportunities for the youth. Skills-based programs for students completing 8th class will also be conducted in public schools, he said, adding that skill education will only play a critical role in the economic prosperity of the country.