Commerce Desk
Islamabad: Federal Education Secretary Nadeem Mehbub announced that foundational learning will be a key agenda item at the Inter-Provincial Education Ministers’ Conference (IPEMC). He made the announcement while launching the National Coalition for Foundational Learning (NCFL) Pakistan at a roundtable at Allama Iqbal Open University. The event was organised by Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) and the Pakistan Foundational Learning Hub of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training.
The roundtable brought together federal and provincial education departments, academia, civil society, development partners and the private sector to build a shared agenda through 2030. Participants noted that an estimated 25.37 million children aged 5-16 are out of school, including 9.60 million in Punjab, 7.82 million in Sindh, 4.92 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 2.94 million in Balochistan.
Sessions reviewed provincial initiatives and the South-South Fellowship Programme, with international speakers sharing lessons from Brazil. Partners pledged support through consensus-based governance and innovative financing. Working groups were formed on governance, financing, curriculum, data, knowledge and advocacy to define priorities for 2027-2030, with gender equality, inclusion and technology as cross-cutting themes.
