EENET asia Newsletters : Fourth issue June 2007 Contents

Education Sector Reform, EFA and Equal Opportunities for Quality Education in Balochistan

Munir A. Badini

The Province of Balochistan spreads over an area of 347,190 square kilometers and covers 44% of the area of Pakistan while, but has only 5% of the total population of the country. It is therefore obvious that people are scattered over a large area and live in many smaller settlements. The road network and infrastructure is not in good shape. Social indicators of the province are not encouraging.

There are not enough primary schools in Balochistan so many children do not have access to Education. The province is facing a problem of high drop-out rates. There are few schools in remote areas and the drop out rate on primary level is therefore up to 60 or 70%. Compared to the number of primary schools the number of middle schools are much less - it poses a challenging task to bridge the large gap between primary and middle schools. After passing grade 5 [end of primary level] many students do not have easy access to middle schools - therefore many children particularly girls leave education after primary level.

Just a few years ago the education of girls was prohibited and against tribal norms, but with the opening of roads and other communications links the centuries old ice had started melting. Today the people of Balochistan realize the need for education and efforts are in hand to bring the Province at par with the rest of Pakistan.

In 2001-02 the Education Sector Reform (ESR) Program was launched in Pakistan to modernize the education sector and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which includes:
(a) Universal Primary Education by the year 2015;
(b) Provision of infrastructure like
(c) Upgrading of Primary Schools to Middle Level
(d) Construction of new schools;
(e) Provision of additional classrooms, buildings, boundary walls, toilets - almost all missing facilities - reading writing material, training of teachers, strengthening of Education Management Information System [EMIS], access and quality issues, addressing matters of higher education and to make it more compatible with the needs of the society.

In Balochistan the Education Sector Reform Program was launched keeping in view the peculiar condition of the province where due to long distances and scattered population, the bulk of it's population had remained deprived of basic educational facilities. Especially the literacy-rate among girls remained discouragingly low. The teachers were not trained and quality had suffered badly during the last two decades. A redundant curriculum had been imposed which had failed to link education with life and its needs.

Balochistan receives only 8% of the total ESR funding [because of its small population] which is not enough, considering the huge challenges faced by the education sector in the province. Since the education sector in Balochistan is facing multiple problems the Federal Government as well as donors has focused particularly on the province.

Technical education was only available to a few as Balochistan had inherited an old tribal system less exposed to interventions and modernization from the outside. The tribes scattered in the width and breadth of the province mostly lived a pastoralist and semi-pastoralist nomadic life. The Federal Government has also established TEVATA [Technical Education, Vocation and Entrepreneurship Training Authority] and providing assistance for expansion of technical education in the province in order to reduce the menace of unemployment and poverty. Beside technical education the Federal Government is also providing assistance to students for admission in quality higher secondary and tertiary educational institutes of the country while some 7 community cadet colleges are being established in the Province with the assistance of the Federal Government.

The Federal Government has now finalized a new curriculum with the consultation of the provinces and new curriculum will soon be introduced throughout the country including Balochistan. It has also launched a project to introduce formal education in Deeni Madaris [Islamic schools] from 2001-2007. This project could unfortunately not achieve its targets properly. The Federal Government is therefore planning to revise the project plan [PC1] hopefully with the proposed revision the project will achieve the desired results.

United Nation agencies particularly UNICEF, UNESCO and WFP are playing a commendable role in providing incentives and access for girls to education in the province. Under the World Food Program [WFP] oil was distributed in the girls' schools of eight focused Districts of the Province to attract the girls towards schools. USAID, CIDA [Canadian International Development Agency], JIBC [Japan Bank for International Cooperation] and ADB [Asian Development Bank] are also contributing a lot to achieve the six EFA goals. IDP Norway is also providing assistance for an innovation and research project on inclusive and child-friendly education.

These are just some of the initiatives that have been introduced through in Balochistan. Much remain to be done before all children in the province have access to quality education but progress has been made. Implementation of a sector wide approach - a comprehensive and holistic approach to education reform - is what the province needs and continue to strive for.

Mr. Munir Ahmed Badini is the Secretary of Education at the Department of Education of the Province of Balochistan. He can be reached via post: Department of Education, Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan

EENET asia Newsletters : Fourth issue June 2007 Contents