ISLAMABAD: Early years of a child are important not only in terms of education but also for nutritional care and characterbuilding, Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Balighur Rehman said on Monday.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day conference on pre-primary education and child care held at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU).

The conference was jointly organised by the Early Childhood Development Network of Pakistan (ECDNP), education ministry, AIOU and some NGOs.

Mr Rehman said the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) required all children to have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education by 2030.`SDGs are also our national development goals and we are committed to achieving these targets,` the minister said, adding that a separate chapter on early child education would be incorporate d in the new education policy.

He announced that matters relating to early childhood will be included in the curriculum at various academic levels, and the federal government, in collaboration with the provinces, will take steps for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).

Earlier, Joint Education Adviser of the Ministry of Education Rafiq Tahir told the audience about the three major objectives of the conference bringing all stakeholders on one platform, reviewing the current status of ECCE in Pakistan and charting out future direction and providing a forum for learning the best practices, disseminating research and promoting collaboration on ECCE.Speaking on the occasion, AIOU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui said the university would provide academic and intellectual support for promoting and implementing the concept of pre-primary education.

He said about 65pc women were getting education in the AIOU, adding that about a thousand prisoners would receive free education from the university.

AdditionalEducation Secretary Imran Ahmad, Prof Dr Manzoor Hussain from Bangladesh, Unicef`s Deputy Representative Cristian Lorena Munduate, Early Childhood Network Development Pakistan Chairman Nasruddin Rupani, Jica Pakistan`s chief representative Yasuhiro Tojo also spoke on the occasion.

The speakers lauded the efforts of the education ministry and its partners for holding a conference on early childhood care and education.