US, Pak hold talks to boost Pakistan's educational reforms

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Washington, Dec 1 (UNI) US and Pakistani officials have initiated a dialogue to boost Pakistan's educational reforms and to enhance partnerships between universities of the two countries.

The move followed an agreement between President George Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on educational cooperation earlier this year.

The key officials from both countries who met here yesterday discussed their respective educational programmes and priorities.

Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to improve Pakistan's educational infrastructure, train teachers and foster exchanges between universities and research institutions.

''A civilized, productive, developed society really begins with education,'' US Secretary for Education Margaret Spellings told reporters before the session began. The delegations, led by Spellings and Pakistan's minister for education, Javed Ashraf, met at the State Department.

Under Secretary of State R Nicholas Burns, who was also present, underscored the importance of South Asia and Pakistan to the Bush administration: ''There is no other country in the world more important to the United States when it comes to counterterrorism cooperation, and Pakistan has been a valued ally of our country.'' He said the two governments seek to broaden their relationship beyond counterterrorism. The United States government has been working hard to ''build a multitude of bridges between our two countries. And nowhere is that more important than in education.'' ''We hope this is going to stimulate discussion between the two governments and our two education ministries,'' and develop ''a good partnership between students and academies and universities in both of our countries,'' Burns said.

Ashraf said Pakistanis had suffered from poor educational standards and also from illiteracy,'' stressing that this must change. ''Otherwise illiterate masses become ready recruits for all sorts of unhealthy activities. We want to give them meaningful education so they can contribute to the building of future Pakistan.

We want a strong country,'' he said.

A five-year, 100 million dollars agreement between the US and Pakistan supports Pakistan's educational reform efforts, Spellings said.

She said Pakistan has the largest Fulbright Programme in the world, a valuable tool in training teachers and students alike.

The Fulbright Program offers scholarships to non-American students for study in the United States and to American students for study and research in foreign countries.

In partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs assists education in Pakistan by a number of exchange programmes for secondary, undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, scholars, professionals and researchers; English language programmes, and counseling about educational opportunities for Pakistani students in the US.

American university students are brought to Pakistan for intensive Urdu and Punjabi study camps, and young Pakistani teachers are brought to American university campuses to assist in teaching Urdu and Punjabi and improve their own English.

Educational partnership between the US and Pakistan dates back to 1948. Since then, USAID alone has provided nearly 7.9 billion dollars in support of education. The University of Peshawar was established in 1950 with the help of USAID funding. Five years later, the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi was opened with funding and technical support from USAID and the Wharton School of Finance of the University of Pennsylvania.

Most recently, 265 million dollars has been allocated to train teachers and upgrade facilities at about 8,000 schools all over Pakistan, including in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The 2006 earthquake reconstruction programme provides about 9 million dollars to rebuild 50 schools and train teachers and staff.

UNI XC SBA BST0700

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