LONDON, November 19: “Well on its way to achieving its quantitative goals in Azad Kashmir in the realm of education, now the focus of the planners was to focus on quality of education.”
The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan, made these remarks while addressing an event organised by the Quest for Education (QFE), a UK-based non-governmental organisation based in London which promotes quality education in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan.
The QFE especially focuses on education to deprived and talented children in rural areas; and in these efforts collaborates with the Kashmir Education Foundation, based in Rawalpindi.
President Masood Khan said that according the latest survey, Azad Kashmir had surpassed all regions of Pakistan in overall educational score, more than 85 %, as well as in other indicators,
such as enrolment, learning, retention and gender parity. Still, he said, there were huge challenges in educational infrastructure, teacher training and educational technology.
The President highlighted how the people of Azad Kashmir because of their passion for education had now established five universities, three medical colleges, and scores of post graduate colleges. “The emphasis now is on quality education at all levels – primary, secondary and tertiary”, he said.
The President highlighted how Azad Kashmir decades ago started from scratch and now was on the pathway on becoming an educational hub in the country.
The President lauded the performance of the Kashmir Education Foundation over the years in producing high achievers in all walks of life and paid rich tribute to its founding fathers – General Rahim Khan, M.R.Khan and Sardar Habib.
Sardar Masood Khan said that after having made progress in the quantitative goals, now Azad Kashmir was trying to promote compatibility between the emerging market trends and the curricula and various disciplines being taught.
Pakistan, he said, earlier this year had been declared an emerging economy by Morgan Stanley Capital International and this had opened up huge new opportunities for Azad Kashmir. “In sync with the new national, regional and global trends, now Azad Kashmir will produce graduates in corporate management, business, and new technologies”, he said.
Pakistan, the President said, is becoming a growth engine of the region after witnessing and fighting turbulence and volatility caused by global terrorism. “Now it was looking beyond this phase to a period of robust economic development and human security”, he said.
Education, the President said, will act as a catalyst in promoting peace, stability and harmony and Pakistan and Azad Kashmir will contribute to this trend by putting quality education in the centre, which is also an integral part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. Our ambition is to leave no one behind by 2030, he said.- DNA
