Active Citizen Programme Policy Dialogue Minutes of the session prepared by: TESOL Department Topic: Education Session:

2 Date: 1/03/2013 Time: 10:30 2:30 Venue: L.C.W.U IT Department (Conference room) Organizers: British Council in collaboration with L.C.W.U Moderator: Jawad Talib (Project manager, British Council) Present: Panelists Dr. Samia Amjad (PML-Q) Dr. Zumarrad Yasmin Rana (PML-N) Uzma Kardaar (PTI) Mian Imran Masood (PML-Q) Participants Dr. Sabeeha Mansoor (Vice Chancellor L.C.W.U) Faculty of L.C.W.U Members of British Council Students from L.C.W.U, F.C. College, University of the Punjab and Comsats Agenda breakdown: 10:30 10:45 Opening note and overview by the moderator Welcome address by the Vice Chancellor

11:00-1:00 Party manifesto presentation by the panelists 1:00 1:30 Refreshment break 1:30 2:00 Questions and answers session between the panelists and the participants 2:00 2:30 Lunch

1. Opening note and overview Jawad Talib (moderator) The session was started by an opening note from the moderator. In which he briefly described the objective of starting this dialogue series, which is to take an initiative to provide a platform where dialogues based on factual data, policy briefs take place to help young generation and political entities to come together and recommend improvements. He introduced the panelists and gave an overview about how the programme was going to advance and general guidelines were provided to the participants to follow for smooth procession of the events. 2. Welcome address by the Vice Chancellor Dr. Sabiha Mansoor (V.C. L.C.W.U) Dr. Sabiha Mansoor welcomed the panelists and the participants on behalf of the Lahore College for Women University and the dialogue sponsors. She stressed on the importance of policy awareness for the citizens, especially youth. She also discussed about her article which concentrates on the contemporary issues on education. She also highlighted the significance of coming up with innovative ways of developing education. In the end, she extended an invitation to all the higher leaders of the main political parties to come to this platform and express their opinions and engage in an active and positive dialogue with the young citizens. 3. Manifesto presentation by the panelists i) Manifesto presentation by the1st panelist Dr. Samia Amjad (PML-Q) Dr. Samia Amjad, a medical doctor by profession clearly described her partys stance on the issue of education. She started off by showing her humorous side and sharing her personal experiences about how education is imparted in this country and how she has struggled to improve its standard by participating in a teachers training programme and training the teachers of rural areas. She emphasized the importance of networking and commended the efforts of L.C.W.U for establishing a resource center that can be the first step to achieve effective networking. She also stated that her party is striving for the flourishing of education in Pakistan and introduced the plan of her party to manage the educational system of Pakistan by Establishing a Virtual University, as going virtual is the answer to the educational crises being faced by Pakistan. Efforts will be made for the progress of health education in Pakistan and for that the Party will introduce new methods like video conferencing to aid the

networking between the doctors throughout the country and with the doctors of the foreign countries. In the end, Dr. Samia Amjad explained on behalf of her party that they will solve the educational problems of Pakistan with internal solutions by carrying their resource centers to periphery because the definition is literacy is always contextual to country. Therefore, we being Muslims should take guidance from the Quran. ii) Manifesto Presentation by 2nd Panelist Uzma Kardaar (PTI) Uzma Kardaar started by stating that PTI believes that every boy and girl has the right to education in Pakistan. After that she introduced herself giving brief details about her background. She explained that the focal point of her partys stance is youth and the change they can bring in the existing circumstances of Pakistan. She further elaborated her point by saying that 25 million children are still outside school and they plan to change that situation because education is the single most important thing, therefore, access to education should be provided to all. She proposed her partys six-point agenda on education in Pakistan Same system of education for all to reduce disparity. Increase the budget from 2 to 5 percent through implementation of proper tax system. Educational emergency will be declared in the country. Educational system will be broken down to the local bodies district and subdistrict level. Adult literacy programmes will be introduced for the population that falls in the age range of 15-20 years. Teachers training programmes will be carried out by collaboration of the private and public sector, where teachers from private sector will train the public sector. Induction of 1 million fresh teachers in the department of IT. Medium of instruction is a matter of great concern so in order to resolve this issue same curriculum will be introduced all over the country.

iii) Manifesto presentation by the 3rd Panelist Dr. Zummarrad Yasmin (PML-N) Dr. Zummarrad Yasmin presented PML-Ns education manifesto which was based on setting the priorities straight and precise utilization of national resources. She told the audience that PML-Ns leadership desires an independent Pakistan in true terms which can cater to the 18th amendment of the constitution that stresses on education for all. Their plan to implement this vision includes establishment of an IT university. Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif has diligently worked on its proposal. Merit will be given its due importance and will be the ultimate criteria for selection in any field. New internship programmes will be introduced for 50,000 students. Free laptops for youth initiative will continue where more young citizens will be awarded free laptops based on merit. An endowment fund will be created. More Daanish schools will be established. She further strengthened the position of her party by saying that 111 billion rupees have been spent on education in this reign and they plan to considerably increase the budget if elected again. iv) Manifesto presentation by 4th panelist Mian Imran Masood (PML-Q) Mian Imran Masood being a former minister for education started out by saying that education is a slow moving ministry. Unlike other ministries, new initiatives in education need time and persistence to develop into desired results. On behalf of his party he said that education has and will always be their Flagship programme. He said that if elected PML-Q will continue on with their vision of Parha Likha Punjab and for that they will introduce the below-mentioned reforms: Ghost school capturing programme once initiated in 1997 will be restarted and availability of schools will be ensured. Policies will be introduced to decrease drop-out rate and increase enrollment. Free education for every child of Punjab will be provided with unwavering quality of education. Free education initiative also includes provision of free books.

 Capacity of the provinces in this regard should also be taken into account and reforms will be introduced accordingly. Moreover, networking between provinces will be improved. Teachers training initiatives will be introduced. Fixed posts will be created for Master Teachers. Blending of private and public education sector is very important. He maintained that PML-Q has always opted for third party evaluation by organizations like United Nations and World Bank to assess their efforts for the progress of educational sector and this practice will continue this time too. Development initiatives in the educational sector will be introduced keeping in mind the cultural context. 4. Refreshment Break Refreshments were provided to the panelists and the participants. Panelists also interacted with the participants during the break. 5. Questions and Answers Session Questions about initiatives for adult education, policies to decrease drop-out rate and prioritization of issues were asked by the participants and were answered by the panelists accordingly. A question by a student raised the concern of lack of uniformity and continuity among the educational policies of different parties which was lauded by the panelists and it was agreed that an impartial educational committee should be formed and the policies formulated by that committee should continue on irregardless of the fact that who the ruling party is because only this way education can really be improved in Pakistan. 6. Lunch In the end all the panelists and participants of the session were invited for the lunch organized by the sponsors. Plan of action To ensure uniformity and continuity of educational policies across different political reigns and to start efforts for developing an effective consistent curriculum all over the country. Moreover, initiatives like this platform should carry on in future.

Plan for next dialogue session Decision regarding the date of the third dialogue session of the series has yet to be made.