KARACHI: Launching the Sindh Education Sector Plan-2014 (SESP), estimated to cost of Rs940 billion, on Monday, provincial education minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro pledged full support of his government and party in implementing SESP, aimed at providing education in the entire province.

He said a $66 million grant had been given by the Global Partnership for Education for the successful implementation of the plan drawn up by the Reform Support Unit (RSU) and the Local Education Group for free and compulsory education for children between hve and 16 years of age.

Most of the speakers and experts at the launch, however, said the preparation and launching of the plan might be a milestone, but the real challenge was its full implementation.They urged the stakeholders, especially civil society organisations, to take full ownership of the plan and monitor the pace of its implementation to achieve the results. The experts suggested strict and biannual review of implementation of the plan.

Saba Mahmood, chief programme manager, RSU, said that while presenting the SESP roadmap they took on a lead role in shouldering this mega responsibility of the government with the guidance of Mr Khuhro and the secretary of education.

`SESP covers Early Childhood Education (ECE) to higher secondary education and defines the policies, strategies and programming priorities set in for the next five years, which covers governance and accountability, non-formal education, teachers` education and training, curriculum and assessment, school infrastructure, cross-cutting issues and priority areas and costing and financing issues,` she said.

Shehla Rashid Din, education specialistfrom the United Nations Children`s Fund, said they would provide technical support in the process of successful rollout of SESP at the district level. She also said SESP was a major step towards reinforcing the Universal Declaration of Right to Education and Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, `free and compulsory education`.

One of the keynote speakers, Sadiga Salahuddin, executive director of the Indus Resource Centre, told the audience that the plan was recognition of the rights of children in Sindh. She also stressed the importance of political commitment and accountability for the implementation of SESP.

Another keynote speaker, Dr Muhammad Memon, a professor at the Aga Khan University, said he saw SESP as an alternative approach to transformation of education in Sindh. He also suggested that the district education plan should be made as per the performance of each district.

Explaining the key interventions, includ-ing ECE, senior RSU programme manager Ghulam Nabi said the enrolment of ECE would be increased from 32 to 45 per cent by 2018. `The targets for primary enrolment is expected to increase from 59 to 77, middle 34 to 50, secondary 23 to 35 and higher secondary 19 to 30 per cent,` he said, adding that the target for overall literacy was set to increase from 59pc to 70pc by 2018.

SESP has been developed after extensive consultation of the LocalEducation Group comprising scholars in academia and several other national and international educational partners working in the province.

The overall cost of SESP has been worked out at Rs940 billion. The total gap estimated is Rs186 billion, of which Rs84 million is expected to be granted by development partners, including the Global Partnership for Education, while the remaining Rs102 billion will be provided by the Sindh government.