Staff Reporter
President Dr Arif Alvi has said that regular changes in education curriculum to make it dynamic in accordance with the modern day needs and trends in the education sector area need of the hour.
The President stated this on Monday while addressing the 35th Medals and Prizes Distribution Ceremony held by Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) at Aiwan-e-Sadar to honor the position holders of the secondary and higher secondary classes in the recently held examination.
Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood, Secretary Education Dr Sajid Yousufani, Chairman FBISE Dr Ikram Malik and a huge number of students and teachers from Islamabad and other cities were also present on the occasion.
The President said it was inevitable to inculcate critical thinking in the students by ridding them of rote learning to make them excel in this competitive era.
President Alvi who earlier distributed medals and prizes along with laptops and cash prizes among the top scorers with a predominant number of girls, urged the boys to work harder to bring about excellence at par with the girls.
The president lauded the efforts of Chairman FBISE Dr Ikram Malik for introducing reforms in paper setting, examination and paper marking in FBISE as the organization had its outreach not only in the country but also abroad.
He said for successful inculcation of critical thinking and enforcement of uniform curriculum for schools and seminaries, it was essential to upgrade the teaching standards too.
He hoped that consequent to the ongoing efforts by the education ministry, the government would be able to enroll the out of school children what would ultimately lead to country’s development.
The President said most of the parents remained more concerned about the quality of education, not the dearth of facilities in schools and colleges like toilets and boundary walls which manifested their eagerness to educate the children.
He said the information technology had eased the availability of knowledge not only for the school children but also the higher education.
Sharing his own experience, the President said the children who were provided with IT tools had shown far better performance than the others.
President Alvi also lauded the education ministry’s scholarship program for nurses as the country faced shortfall in the sector.
In his address, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said consequent to the reforms, the FBISE had been turned into an institution of excellence.
He said efforts were on to get rid of rote learning and introduce uniform curriculum as the existing education system continued to widen division in the society. The draft for uniform curriculum of primary education would be ready by March this year.
The minister told the audience that under Ehsaas Program, the government had allocated Rs 5 billion to provide scholarship to around 50,000 needy students. Moreover, the calendars of the board and universities had been synchronized deciding that all of the educational board would hold examinations by August 15 and universities to announce admissions by September 15.
Chairman FBISE also addressed the gathering and highlighted the initiatives being introduced by the organization in examination, paper setting and marking.
