Minister highlights criticality of IPEMC’s role in dealing with Covid-19 challenge

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood Thursday said that the IPEMC to play an instrumental role in developing a way forward for dealing with the impact of Covid-19 pandemic. He was presiding over 33rd Meeting of Inter-Provincial Education Minister’s Conference (IPEMC) at a local hotel in Karachi, said the press release.

Syed Sardar Ali Shah, Provincial Minister for Education and Literacy Sindh and Muhammad Ismail Rahoo, Provincial Minister for Universities & Board Sindh attended the meeting physically. Sharam Khan Tarakai, Provincial Minister-Elementary & Secondary Education Department-KPK, Deewan Ali Khan, Minister Elementary and Secondary Education Department-AJK, Dr. Murad Rass, School Education Department-Punjab, Raja Yasir Humayun Sarfraz, Provincial Minister for Higher Education-Punjab attended the meeting virtually.

Senior officials of Federal Education Ministry, Provincial /regional education departments of Sindh, KPK, Balochistan, Punjab, AJK and Gilgit Baltistan also participated in the meting. A detailed presentation was given by the Federal Secretary, Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training (MOFEPT), Naheed S. Durrani which shed light on the facilitation of provinces under Emergency Actions to Strengthen Performance for Inclusive and Responsive Education (ASPIRE) Project.

She informed that yearly funds had been allocated to all 04 provinces and Federal. She further talked about the disbursement process of ASPIRE Joint Secretary-MOFEPT. Waseem Ajmal Chaudhary informed the participants about the Pakistan National Education Response and Resilience plan.

He said that this plan serves as an education response framework to Covid-19. He further informed that the plan covered both public and private sectors and included all levels of education. The experts of World Bank briefed the participants on the developmental projects i.e. Action to Strengthen Performance for Inclusive and Responsive Education (ASPIRE) and Response, Recovery and Resilience in Education Projects (RRREP).

An open discussion regarding impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the education sector, calendar of examination for new academic year, safe reopening of schools (safety protocols and vaccination SOPs) and remedial education strategies also took place during the meeting.

Moreover, important matters with regards to strengthening of federal-provincial coordination mechanism, introducing National Education Policy-2022, introduction of assessment reforms in Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) and shifting from absolute scoring to relative grading system were also discussed.