The 38th Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference in Islamabad unanimously approved the National Education Emergency Action Plan for out-of-school children after extensive stakeholder consultations. Chaired by Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the session brought federal and provincial leaders together to fast-track measures addressing Pakistan’s urgent education challenges.
Delegates were briefed on a special federal Challenge Fund designed to facilitate the return of out-of-school children, with the federal government offering support to all provinces to implement the Education Emergency. Participants emphasized setting aside political divides to ensure nationwide delivery of equitable, quality education, including international-standard examination and curricular reforms.
Provincial updates highlighted measurable gains: Punjab reported the elimination of 1.8 million ghost students and the outsourcing of 10,000 schools, Sindh confirmed merit-based recruitment of 93,000 teachers, and Balochistan restored 3,200 closed schools bringing 140,000 children back to class. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded a 6 percent rise in enrollment along with 10,000 new teacher recruits. Azad Kashmir announced a 7 billion rupee allocation for 10,000 new classrooms despite Line of Control challenges, while Gilgit-Baltistan outlined special funds for out-of-school children and expansion of the school meal program.
Federal Secretary Education Nadeem Mahbub said all endorsed projects will receive final ratification from the Education Emergency Task Force chaired by the Prime Minister. He invited provinces to adopt Federal Board reforms and stressed aligning Metric and Inter-Tech programs with global benchmarks to strengthen national coherence in education standards.
Dr. Muhammad Shahid Saroya, Director General of the Punjab Institute of Education, noted the National Action Plan was developed over six months to confront the challenge of 25 million out-of-school children. The conference also cleared technical education initiatives, the Task Force terms of reference, a new data regime by PIE, modern curriculum reforms introduced by Director NCC Tabassum Naz, and a character-building strategy presented by Khurshid Ahmed Nadeem.
In closing remarks Federal Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui praised the collective effort as a milestone of national harmony and underlined that sustained synergy between federal and provincial units is essential to meet changing global standards. He reiterated priorities for the Education Emergency including informal learning pathways, outreach to remote communities, and the mainstreaming of madrasa students into the national school system.
