Education Committee of the NA Wants to ‘Normalize’ the Syllabus

On Monday, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Professional Training and Federal Education called to reinstate the syllabus in studies that was previously excluded. The reason behind this exclusion was the pandemic. 

The entire panel fully supported the decision of the government to allow educational institutions to reopen from the 18th of January. Moreover, the committee observed that once institutions are reopened, the gap in the educational loss of the students during the pandemic will be bridged. 

The Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education, Farah Hamid, revealed to the committee that the bill, which relates to the provision of loans to private schools, will hopefully be approved in the next three days. As of now, it is in the Finance Division. Moreover, she informed the committee that a budget of Rs.-.5 million to Rs.1 million will be awarded to all small private schools. 

The Director-General of the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE), Dr. Ikram Ali Malik, further stated that the educational sessions of all colleges and schools have been extended. In addition, the syllabus is also going to be reduced for the convenience of the students. He added that examinations will be held in May. 

Dr. Ikram also highlighted that they were not in possession of enough funds to perform coronavirus tests on teachers before the reopening of educational institutions. He further revealed that there is no tool at their disposal to help schools assess the ratio of students that are benefitting from online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

One HEC official discussed how they did not have ample funds to provide support to universities. He informed that universities were asking for grants as well. However, the HEC had allocated a lower budget than the required amount.