PTI unveils its much awaited “Education Policy Vision”

PTI to spend Rs 2.5 trillion on education sector, uniform curricula, Urdu medium for Primary, English as subject management to be devolved to town levelImran Khan 

ISLAMABAD, Feb 20: On the eve of unveiling of the six-point ‘Education Emergency Policy’ of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday vowed to introduce uniform education system with one curricula for all and provision of education in mother tongue and Urdu language for primary levels, increasing the education budget from current
2.1% to 5% of the GDP over its five-year term and Rs. 2.5 trillion would be spent on education; and that the party would recover the looted money from corrupt politicians and the same would be diverted to education spending.
Addressing the participants of the launching ceremony of the much-awaited and talked-about ‘PTI Education Policy Vision’ here, Imran Khan said that the PTI government would declare ‘Education Emergency’ in the country the moment it assumes power, although it was an uphill task to implement it in totality, without which the dream of real change cannot be materialized.

Besides Imran Khan, PTI President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jahangir Khan Tareen, Dr. Arfi Alvi, Dr Asad Umar, Naeemul Haq, Fouzia Kasuri and Ayla Malik were also present on the occasion.

Imran Khan said that the PTI considered education a critical subject and a pre-requisite for improving the deteriorating plight of the country; hence, it would introduce a new uniform curriculum for education in the country for which, Imran Khan said, the PTI would make all-out efforts to bring madressah students into the streamline.
Under the PTI education policy, Imran Khan said that one education system would be introduced and Urdu and Mother Tongue would as medium of instruction at primary level with the objective to achieve equality and attain cultural and social harmony.
Imran Khan said that English being an international language cannot be ignored, but it would be taught as a subject and not as a cultural imperialism, as it triggered wide cultural and societal divisions in the country.
The PTI Chairman vowed that after coming to power, all educational institutions would be de-politicized and de-centralized to the town level under which education service delivery and its management would be devolved to district and sub-district levels.    
Expressing his optimism that the PTI’s tsunami had already triumphed three provinces and soon it would hit the fourth province as well, Imran Khan told the participants of the moot that it was a matter of few months, ‘you will see tsunami  will sweep away all the corrupt forces’.
He said that in FATA and Balochistan, the educational institutions had been shut for the past ten years due to which a generation could not educate their children, which is matter of immediate attention.
Earlier, the PTI senior leader Jahangir Khan Tareen unveiled the PTI Education Policy Vision under which the PTI present a solution to the education emergency in Pakistan. Declaring the education as emergency plan, Tareen said that the PTI would introduce one education system for all segments of society and each province would be able to teach their children in mother tongues and Urdu as medium of instruction in all government and private schools up to call 8. He said that class 9 to 12 would have transitional years during which schools shall have the option to shift to English as the medium of instruction in preparation for professional/higher studies. 
Tareen said that a uniform and world standard curriculum would be introduced for all the government and private schools, adding that the education service delivery and management will be devolved to district and sub-district levels and the provincial government would only provide oversight and regulation.
The current spending on education spending, which is 2.1 percent would be raised to five percent, as it would help the government to achieve the stated objectives, Tareen asserted.
The PTI leader went on saying that the party would give a special focus to adult literacy from the age of 15-to-30 (55.8 million) and invest resources to provide functional literacy to them. He said that PTI government under its educational policy would give special emphasis on teacher training, besides inducting million fresh teachers and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which he termed a paradigm shift, would be used extensively for teaching, learning, performance management and proactive disclosure, Tareen vowed. Ends 

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PTI Education Policy Vision – Press Release
 Pakistan Tehreek–e-Insaf has come forward with an Education Vision to present a solution to the education emergency in Pakistan. This Vision has been formulated in response to poor governance and abysmally low funding of the Education system which has resulted in shocking indicators:

• Our literacy rate, especially for women, is lower than most countries in our region.
• Approximately 16.6 million children are out of school. For women, this is worse – with only one in three rural women ever attending a school
• Substandard or non-existent basic facilities
• Poor learning outcomes in most government schools
• A socially irresponsible population due to lack of proper guidanceA social and class divide, created through pubic versus private education system

 PTI’s Proposed Approach

• PTI’s Education Policy aims to provide equal opportunity of quality education in a system which caters to every citizen, young and old and removes poverty as a barrier for children to realize their potential
• The objective of education will be to promote critical thinking and to improve articulation skills of students
• PTI strongly believes in One education system for all, to achieve equality and attain cultural and social harmony

 PTI believes that the education system of Pakistan can be reformed by adopting the following 6 point agenda:

1. One education system for all
   • Mother tongue and/or Urdu as medium of instruction
     • Each province will choose mother tongue and/or Urdu as medium of instruction in all government and private schools up to Class 8
     • Class 9 to 12 will be transition years during which schools shall have the option to shift to English as the medium of instruction in preparation for professional / higher studies
     • English will be the medium of instruction for all university and professional education
     • English and Urdu will be taught as compulsory subjects from Class 1 to 12
   • A new Uniform Curriculum for all
   • • Uniform and world standard curricula for all government and private schools.
     • Standardized Assessment / Examination of students.
     • All students in public and private schools will be assessed under one standardized assessment / examination. These assessments will test students on their understanding, rather than their memory.
     • Each province to have an independent Examination Commissions with stakeholder representation to oversee exams for Class 8, 10, 12 to bring standards of all regional boards at par.
     • Operate with full transparency to rank and disclose school / student performance.
2. Decentralized governance in education
   •  
   • Education service delivery and management will be devolved to district and sub-district levels.
   • Provincial governments will provide oversight and regulation only.
   • Establish fully autonomous District Education Authorities (DEA) to perform education management functions on an aggregate level
     • will be dedicated institutional hubs for education provision in the district
     • will reconstitute the entire teaching cadre in the District to make it more accountable for quality and performance
   • School Councils elected by parents of current students will perform school-specific functions
   • All schools/colleges will have formula based funding available as a matter of right
   • Uplift and upgrade government schools to increase enrolment and reduce dropout rate
3. Dramatically increase government spending on education
   • Increase government spending on education from 1.8% today to 5% of GDP over its 5-year term, allowing the government to achieve its stated objectives.
4. Provision of Adult literacy 
   • Focus on illiterate adults in the 15-30 age bracket (55.8 million) and invest resources to provide functional literacy to them.
5. Teacher Training
   • Fresh induction and training of a million plus teachers
   • Re-thing pre-service teachers’ education
   • Investment in ‘in-service’ training and re-training of current teaching cadre
6. Information and Communications Technology
   • Extensive use of ICT for teaching, learning, performance management and proactive disclosure
   • Use of content available on the ‘cloud’ (Sal Khan Academy model) to provide the option of 24/7 self-education
   • Mass availability of Tablet Computers to enable use of distance education facility 

In addition to its 6-point Agenda, PTI believes that Special Initiatives need to be taken to further strengthen the education system of Pakistan. These include special focus on:

• Girls’ Education
• Sports and Extra-curricular activities
• English Language Program
• Skill Development
• University Education