ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Federal Education in collaboration with provinces has prepared an initial draft for the National Education Policy Framework to replace the policy in vogue since 2009.

Education ministry officials told Dawn that the ministry could not formulate a national policy in light of the 18th Amendment that had devolved education to provinces; however, the ministry in collaboration with provinces was preparing a national policy framework.

`Once this document is finalised, major issues will beresolved. It will cover broader areas and subsequently, provinces will tailor their education policy per their needs,` the ministry officials privy to the subject told Dawn.

Several meetings were held this year and a few weeks ago, the federal government and provinces also met to hash out the details.`Now, the draft will be shared with provinces for their further input,` he said.

An official said the initial policy draft focused on five major areas -access (focus on out-of-school children), learning poverty, governance issues, public financing, and skills education.

Besides the need to enhance education funds from 1.7pc ofthe GDP to 4pe, the literacy rate stagnant at 62pc also needed improvement. Similarly, the officials said that the country has over 26 million out-of-school children and thisissue requires special attention.

After its first meeting in March, the ministry issued a pressrelease stressingthe need for a new policy to address key issues, such as out-of-school children, quality education, and skills development. Key areas of focus included improving access to education, promoting girls` education, developing soft skills and language proficiency, and integrating digital skills into the curriculum.

It is relevant to note that the education ministry had pre-pared the National Education Policy in 2009. This policy has some anomalies, budget is one of them. It was set at 7pc of the GDP whereas the country hardly spends 1.7pc of the GDP on education.

During the tenure of the PML-N government from 201318, efforts to frame a new policy were underway and its draft had alsobeenpreparedin2016.

However, the government could not introduce the policy.

When the PTI came to power, it also announced that a new policy would be introduced but it also failed. However, the PTI managed to introduce an education framework in 2018, which suggested seeking feedback from the public before finalis-ing the 2021 education policy.

But this too could not be introduced.

When contacted, Pakistan Institute of Education (PIE) Director General Dr Muhammad Shahid Soroya, the focal person on the National Education Policy Framework, said that the ministry in collaboration with provinces had been working to introduce a new policy framework.

`Federal and provincial governments want to finalise this framework in the next few months and provinces will develop their education policies accordingly,` he said and added that after developing consensus, the policy would be formally launched.