LUMS, Punjab govt to collaborate in policy making, education
By A Reporter2017-10-18
LAHORE: The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and the Punjab government signed on Tuesday two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to facilitate research-based policy making and innovation in education.
The ceremony was held at LUMS vice chancellor`s office. The first MoU was signed between the Programme Monitoring and Implementation Unit (PMIU), LUMS School of Education (SOE) and the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP). The second MoU was signed between the Punjab School Education Department, SOE and the CERP.
The first MoU will facilitate graduate students with PMIU data for research while the second MoU will serve as a partnership of scal-able impact geared towards education reform in Pakistan.
VC Prof Dr Sohail Naqvi said the collaboration between the Punjab government and the SOE would be a game changer in the region for graduate level programmes in education and its policy.
Education Secretary Dr Allah Bukhsh Malik said they were trying to develop coordination to promote teacher training and improve quality of education.
He said they would share data for the purpose ofresearch so that better education strategies could be evolved for implementation.
He said the Danish Public School System had started delivering better results as students from lower soc-economic classes were getting national and international education scholarships for further study.
He said there had been 40 percent increase in girls enrollment in one district of south Punjab underthe Zevar-i-Taleem programme.
Dr Tahir Andrabi said they were collaborating with the Punjab government to get the data for research and develop strategy to improve education in the province. `Education is in crisis but when some people see crisis, others see opportunity.
He said under the MoU all data generated by the government would be shared with LUMS for research purpose and it would also make public discourse over different pollcies for constructive purpose.
He said there had been approximately 56,000 public and 60,000 private schools in Punjab and higher education had 83 universities. `Education is the driver of economic growth and growth needs strategy otherwise quality is compromised,` he concluded.
Chief Minister`s Special Monitoring Unit Head Syeda Fatima Zaidi called the MoU an unprecedented step forwardtowards integrating research with policy in Punjab.
She said partnership with the SOE would provide need-based and timely research for the government as well as empower data cooperation for inventing policy avenues and enhancingevidence based corrective mechanisms.
She said it would extend the chief minister`s approach of inviting researchers to policy discussions and incorporating scientific methods and expertise in designing interventions.
The collaboration between the SOE and the government will provide insights to assist the government in making evidence-based interventions in the region, and undertake a multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach in its research to effectively identify the pressing problems of the education system and generate practical solutions.