NA suggests passing education institute bill

The National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education, Professional Training, National Heritage and Culture on Tuesday unanimously suggested that the Pakistan Institute of Education Bill, 2021 may be approved by the National Assembly.

The endorsement was made through the 20th meeting held here under the chair of MNA Mian Najeebuddin Awaisi.

Federal Education and Professional Training Division additional secretary apprised the committee that the Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) would be an institution of excellence meant for wide-ranging research, assessment, training and management information systems in education. He said that the PIE will forge a national consensus with respect to a long-term agenda for education, research, development, dissemination through collaborative efforts.

The official said that the main functions of the PIE include all comprehensive education data collection, analysis and reporting at national and international levels to support policy, planning and research as well as for future education reforms. The institute will also capture all outputs of the education sector for analysis including learning systems, summative assessment and standardized scores, he added.

After detailed deliberations, the committee unanimously recommended that the bill may be passed by the National Assembly.

Parliamentary Secretary for Federal Education and Professional Training Division Wajiha Qamar requested the committee to defer the agenda regarding Single National Curriculum (SNC) as the education minister will brief the committee. On the request, the committee deferred the agenda till its next meeting.

The committee also discussed the current admission policy in ICT schools. The Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) director-general stated that the children of residents of Islamabad Capital Territory, children of the federal government and semi-government employees residing in Islamabad were eligible for admission in a location as close as possible to their residences.

He said that priority is given to the residents of the same union council/sector whichever the case may be. He said that children belonging to the same family were accorded preference for admission to the institutions where their brothers/sisters are already enrolled.

He added that admission tests were conducted for admission to institutions where the number of applicants for admission exceeds intake capacity. The committee decided to take up the agenda in every meeting and members of the committee will visit the FDE for a briefing on the admission policy in ICT schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2021