Moalims

Thursday, May 21, 2015 - Islamabad—Reflecting upon the present state of education in Balochistan, the experts Wednesday reviewed various initiatives taken by the Balochistan government, urging for the recognition of well-intended efforts made by the province’s incumbent authorities to resolve the issue. They were speaking at the session ‘Education in Balochistan’ held at the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) here, said a press release.
The session was addressed as keynote speaker by advisor to Chief Minister (CM) Balochistan on Education, Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan Barech, while the other speakers included Nadir Gul Barech, CEO, Balochistan Rural Support Program (BRSP) and DG-IPS Khalid Rahman. Nadir Gul Barech presented the education-specific background of the province as well as its SWOT analysis.
Terming the province’s area, youth population, mineral resources and the coastal line as few of its major strengths, he identified meager population per square kilometre (only 19 persons), the overwhelming majority of which was living below the poverty line, the lack of infrastructure, the untapped or underutilized resources, region’s internal conflict-ridden history and the spill over from neighbouring countries as the major hurdles in planning and executing any type of strategies for region’s sustainable growth and development.
The speakers lamented that there existed a large number of out of school children in the province whereas the drop-out rate of school-going children was also quite alarming. The number of schools in the province, if compared to its requirements, was also highly insufficient whereas as many of those schools were being operated on ‘single teacher multi-grade’ system’.
Sardar Raza agreed with Nadir’s concerns but positioned that despite all the difficulty, a lot of steps were already being taken to improve the situation. He especially expressed his gratitude towards the federal government, which was taking keen interest in the development of education sector in the province.
Directing attention towards few of Balochistan government’s achievements in the past two years, Raza highlighted the allotment of more budget for education, establishment of 500 new schools, induction of over one lac students into schools, the ‘accelerated pathways’ program to attract over-aged children towards schooling.—APP