The Sindh Non-Formal Education (NFE) Policy was formally launched by Minister for Education and Literacy Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar at a ceremony held recently in Karachi. The event was attended by School Education and Literacy Department (SELD) Secretary, Dr. Iqbal Durrani, USAID Deputy Mission Director John Smith-Sreen and representatives of other development agencies like JICA and UNICEF who had contributed substantially to the development of the policy.
Speaking on the occasion, L&NFE Sindh Director, Mohammad Alam Thaheem described the journey of the two-year consultative process of materializing the document into an approved policy. He emphasized the importance of implementing the policy to improve literacy rate in Sindh. He stated that formal and non-formal education sectors are organically linked to achieve the overall education goals of complete secondary education, eradication of gender and other gaps and universal adult literacy, and that the policy recognizes this structure.
Dr. Iqbal Durrani stressed the need for successful implementation of the policy. He stated that Non-Formal Education has been given more importance over the last few years by the Government of Sindh, as it is imperative that out of school children and low adult literacy are targeted to accelerate the achievement of targets of Article 25A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the SDG 4 targets in the province.
USAID Deputy Mission Director, John Smith-Sreen stated that Pakistan had one of the highest youth population in the world and educating them was the most appropriate investment for the future of the country. He emphasised it as an important pillar of USAID’s support to Pakistan. He congratulated the Government of Sindh and all involved in preparing the policy and stated that USAID will also support its implementation.
Chief Adviser to JICA AQAL ChihoOhashi, while speaking on the occasion, shared that many of the policy recommendations have already been implemented, or are in process of. She stressed upon the timely provision of the fundsfor actual implementation of the policy options. She regarded NFE as a critical supplement to quality formal education.
Abdus Sami Khan, Chief of party–USAID SCDP, shared salient features and main pillars of the NFE Policy and explained that it recommends strong linkages with formal education, institutionalization of various processes and information based planning wherein data on out of school children and adult literacy would be collected before spending money. He said that policy emphasizes on development of standards, teachers training, learners attendance and details, through an effective NFEMIS and targets elimination of out of school children and enhancing adult literacy rates.
The policy was formally launched and the members from the government and various development agencies who had contributed to the development of the NFE Policy were acknowledged with commemorative shields.
The event was concluded with a vote of thanks by director of Literacy and NFE with a resolution to implement the policy in the same spirit as it was made.
