Madaris to teach SSC subjects

ISLAMABAD: The PTI-led government has approved a project for the establishment of Directorate General of Religious Education under the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training and will register all religious seminaries (madaris) for introducing contemporary subjects of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School (HSSC) levels. These subjects will be introduced into religious seminaries over the next five years in order to bring them into the mainstream. Such projects in the name of Madrassa reforms were introduced during the Musharraf/Shaukat Aziz regime but it failed to bring desired results. In the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) meeting presided over by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan here, a project related to education sector was presented in the meeting i.e. “Establishment of Directorate General of Religious Education” worth Rs1,253.4 million. It was approved in the forum.

The main objective of the project is to mainstream religious education in Pakistan by registering all Deeni Madaris of Pakistan with the M/o FE&PT, Islamabad, and facilitate them to introduce the contemporary subjects from SSC/HSSC in the next five years. Despite objections raised by the Planning Commission over the financing of Peshawar-D.I. Khan Motorway, the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) on Tuesday cleared this important road connectivity project of western route with estimated cost of Rs276.5 billion under CPEC.

Currently, there is one major road that connects Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan through the National Highway (N-55) but this motorway will improve traffic congestion. However, the Planning Commission raised objections, arguing that the federal government would not be able to finance the project owing to fiscal constraints and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government may look into the possibility of implementing the project in PPP (Public Private Partnership/ BOT (Built-Operate and Transfer) basis. The KP government responded that the project was cleared by KP’s PDWP on 21-12-2020 for placement before the Planning Commission for approval either from PSDP funding or CPEC financing.

The minutes of the 9th JCC meeting under CPEC held on 5-11-2019 show the JCC had agreed that new projects including Peshawar-D.I. Khan Motorway will be considered in the next Transport Infrastructure Joint Working Group after approval of PC-1.

The CDWP also approved a donor-funded Public Finance Management (PFM) project with estimated cost of Rs86.7 billion. Although the PSDP and provincial ADPs did not include the project for the current fiscal year, it might be incorporated through supplementary grants.

According to an official announcement of the Planning Ministry after the official meeting, the CDWP meeting presided over by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan cleared two development projects with cost of Rs3.37 billion and recommended three projects worth Rs402.3 bn to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for further consideration.

Senior officials from the Planning Commission and Federal Ministries/Divisions also participated in the meeting while representatives from provincial governments participated through video conferences.

A project related to governance was presented in the meeting namely “Establishment of Public Financial Management Unit (PFMU) and Program Support Unit (PSU) in Finance Department and Planning and Development (P&D) Board respectively under Punjab Resources Improvement and Digital Effectiveness (PRIDE) Program” worth Rs86,784.8 million, which was recommended to ECNEC for further approval. The program aims to increase own sources revenue and improve reliability of resources allocations and access to digital services for people and firms in the province. The program primarily addresses the three challenges i.e. fiscal risk management, revenue mobilization and expenditure management through better use of information system.

A project related to Physical Planning & Housing was presented in the meeting namely “1.2 MGD R.O.D Plant (Chinese Grant)” worth Rs2,123.986 million and approved by the CDWP forum. Two projects related to transport and communication were presented in the meeting namely "Construction of Dir Motorway” worth Rs38,991.382 million and “Peshawar D I Khan Motorway (360 KM)” worth Rs276,529.496 million, which were referred to ECNEC for further approval. Both roads will considerably reduce the traffic congestion and delays issues on the said routes and will provide the fastest route for the people moving within the region and beyond.

The CDWP also approved one position paper “Pandemic Response Effectiveness Project for COVID -19” worth Rs810.4 million by the respected forum.