Shafqat holds dialogue with WB President on child education.

ISLAMABAD -- Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood led a critical dialogue with World Bank (WB) President David Malpass and his high level delegation for ensuring all Pakistani children can read by age ten.

The meeting was also attended by Planning Minister Khusro Bakhtiar, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Provincial Education and Finance Ministers, along with their Secretaries.

The two sides discussed critical actions that were required by the government to help Pakistan come out of its 'learning poverty', said a press release issued here on Thursday.

It was agreed that helping children achieve their full learning potential was critical and requires effective use of technical and financial resources.

Shafqat Mahmood highlighted that quality education was the single key factor required for building human capital.

The government was ensuring equality of opportunities geographically and across various streams of education, he added.

He highlighted the role of Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) in building a national consensus on key reform areas, especially uniformity in curriculum standards and its implementation.

The minister also mentioned that plans were underway to reorganize the Ministry to set up a Policy and Research Unit to analyse critical information on students learning outcomes, school data and education financing from across Pakistan to ensure better policy and decision making.

The Minister...