Punjab Study

LAHORE, June 30: All studies, conducted under surveys, lead to one conclusion that the children whose mother tongue is Seraiki have performed significantly better than other children, says Prof Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal of the Punjab University.

Addressing a seminar (Achievement of students in national assessments: contextual variables and implications for policy and planning) organised by the Dean Faculty of Education, Punjab University, he said all these studies or examinations were
conducted by the government organisation.

Such results have not been explicitly discussed earlier, he said and added the NEAS project involved huge expenditures, mainly comprising the loan from the World Bank.

Despite paying lavish consultancy fee to the consultant, he said nothing conclusive was communicated to stakeholders. On the other hand, these results have definitely policy implications.

He said the empirical evidence collected by different organizations proved beyond any doubt that the children belonging to south Punjab and the children whose mother tongue was Seraiki had the learning potential.

These results have implications for policy planning and the management while the government needs to adopt a policy for the realization of this hidden potential of these children and bring them to the national network of productivity.

To develop the learning potential of children of these areas, teachers and the management need to create an environment conducive to learning. Missing facilities need to be provided on a priority basis.

He said the participation of children belonging to these areas was proportionally less impressive because the system was not supportive.

Dr Nasir Mahmood from the Punjab Education Assessment System, Iqbal Awan from the Punjab Examination Commission and Dr Hafiz Muhammad Iqbal presented the summary of results from the PEC examination 2009-12, PEAS district-wise
achievement study 2011 and NEAS assessment studies 2006-08, respectively.Dawn.