akistan is facing some major challenges in the education sector, including issues of access, quality and relevance. These challenges are aggravated by low public spending on education. It was in this background that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif declared an education emergency at a conference held on April 30. According to Oxford dictionary an emergency is “a dangerous, serious and sudden event or situation that requires immediate action.” The essence of the emergency declaration, thus, is the spirit of urgency that requires immediate actions.

The education emergency was notified on May 7. The document identified 14 tasks and stipulated the time granted for their completion. Now that eight months have passed since the formal declaration of the emergency, it seems pertinent to evaluate the progress on the tasks mentioned in the document. Under Task 1, the Ministry of Education was to conduct a comprehensive review of out of school children and develop targeted interventions. This plan was to be presented to the PM. The stipulated time for this task was 15 days. However, no such plan has been developed and shared with the PM as yet. Task 2 was the establishment of an Out of School of Children Fund of at least Rs 25 billion over five years to support innovative strategies aiming to reduce the number out of school children in the country. The time given to complete this task was one month. Project digest (PC-1) of the project has not yet been initiated.

Under Task 3, the Ministry of Education was to propose for prime minister’s approval a task force to devise and implement strategic solutions to the educational crisis at national and provincial levels. “The taskforce shall report directly to the Prime Minister’s Office, comprising provincial representatives and bilateral/ multilateral partners.” The time given for this task was 15 days. It took 48 days to form the task force that was notified on June 25. The task force has a large representation of donors and educationists from private sector.

Task 4 was to gradually increase budget allocation for education to 4 percent of the GDP by 2029. There has been no significant increase in the allocations which remain below 2 percent of GDP.

Task 5 was for the Ministry, in coordination with provincial governments, to initiate fast track recruitment of quality teaching staff in educational institutions across the country to improve educational standards. This was to be done immediately. However, no progress has been made in this regard except in the Islamabad Capital Territory.

Under Task 6, a comprehensive national nutrition programme was to be launched for improving the health of school-going children to enhance their learning capability. The BISP was to establish school meals initiatives in all backward districts on a priority basis. The time given for this task was two weeks. So far, progress is visible only in the ICT and some parts of the Punjab and Balochistan. Task 7 entailed incentivising community-based teaching to ensure participation of every literate citizen of the country in imparting education at some level. This was to be done immediately. In the absence of a formal policy, there has been only limited progress in the ICT under a programme titled: Each One, Teach One.

The education emergency was notified on May 7. The document includes 14 tasks, together with the stipulated period of time for their completion. Now that eight months have passed since the formal declaration of the emergency, it seems pertinent to evaluate the progress on the tasks identified in the document.

Under Task 8, a Pakistan Education Endowment Fund was to be established for sustainable financial support to students in backward districts of the country incorporating provision of merit based scholarships to underprivileged students. The time given for this task was one month. No such fund has been established so far.

Task 9 was to replicate Danish Schools system in all provinces as centres of excellence. The target date for this task was one moth. So far, the ground-breaking ceremony for a Danish School has been held in Chak Shehzad, Islamabad.

Task 10 was the launch of a National Skill Development Programme to train 60,000 students with international certification. The stipulated time for this task was two months. However, no update is available in this regard.

Task 11 was the development of an online educational portal “to provide access to educational resources/ material and virtual learning environment for the students.” The stipulated time for this task was one month. A portal has been developed by Ministry with World Bank funding. However, the rollout date has not been finalised.

Task 12 was for the Ministry to “coordinate with concerned stakeholders to expand Waseela-i-TaIeem Fund to financially disadvantaged students; and to utilise National Disaster Risk Management Fund to bolster educational facilities in disaster prone areas of the country.” The stipulated time for this task was one month. No information is available in this regard.

Task 13, was for the State Bank of Pakistan, in coordination with Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ministry, to extend financial literacy in all provinces. The time set for this task was one month. The programme has been initiated by the State Bank but its visibility is confined to the ICT and Gilgit-Baltistan. It needs to be expanded to the provinces as well.

Under Task 14, concerted efforts were to be made “for innovative educational initiatives in line with modern standards of education along with promotion of an integrated approach for education is science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.” This was to be done immediately. So far, it has only been partially implemented in the ICT.

Since its formation on June 25, the task force has only held one meeting. The PM did not attend the meeting.

The evidence suggests that the Education Emergency is to prove no better than familiar political rhetoric. It would not be impertinent to refer here to the Education Emergency Report of 2011 that lamented the 25 million out of school children and low allocations for education. It is ironical that following the declaration of an Education Emergency in 2011, the situation, instead of improving, deteriorated further so that the number of out of school children reached 26.09 million and the public spending on education dropped to 1.5 percent of GDP.

We need to learn from the previous failures and focus on realistic targets, have robust implementation plans, effective monitoring strategies and a strong accountability system.

The writer is an educationist. He can be reached at: shahidksiddiqui@gmail.com