Asian Development Bank asks Pakistan to adopt Indian plan on education

Islamabad: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has advised Pakistan to adopt India's scheme ULLAS to fix its dysfunctional education system and impart quality training to its citizens, according to a media report.

The Manila-based lender's recommendation came in response to Pakistan's request for financial support to improve its education system and impart education to all out-of-school children, The Express Tribune newspaper said.

The Understanding of Lifelong Learning for All in Society (ULLAS) was launched by the Government of India in July last year to help non-literates and adults who missed out on formal schooling.  The ADB recommends that the government adopt a strategic and multi-stakeholder consultative approach, drawing on international best practices, such as the government of India's new centrally sponsored scheme "ULLAS", according to the lender.

The ADB emphasised that the ULLAS scheme emphasises the need for both federal and provincial governments to collaborate urgently to enhance access to quality education and can offer insightful lessons of success and challenges when considering a similar vertical scheme in Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the new centrally-sponsored scheme ULLAS for the five-year period to cover all the aspects of "Education for All".

The objective of the Indian scheme is to impart not only foundational literacy and numeracy but also to cover other components which are necessary for a citizen of the 21st century such as critical life skills including financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care and awareness, child care and education and family welfare.

The ADB's recommendation came just days before a scheduled visit of ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa to Pakistan. The ADB president will meet with Pakistani stakeholders on Monday.

A Planning Commission's report revealed that Pakistan's education delivery system had become dysfunctional and all the 134 districts, barring Islamabad, were lagging on indicators ranging from learning outcomes to public financing.

The findings of the Planning Commission's District Education Performance Index Report 2023 underscored the human resource crisis in Pakistan where people are entering into job markets either with no or low education.

Pakistan last week declared an education emergency on International Literacy Day to educate around 26 million out-of-school children in the country.