Federal Minister for Education proposes handing education to local governments

Federal Minister for Education Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui has floated a new proposal on the long-standing debate over whether the education sector should remain under provincial control or be brought back to the federation, suggesting instead that it be devolved to the third tier of government — local bodies.

Speaking on the issue, the minister said the federation had earlier concluded that it was not fully capable of managing the vast education system across the country, which led to the transfer of the sector to the provinces following constitutional devolution. However, he observed that the provinces, too, have not delivered the desired results.

Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui pointed out that the number of out-of-school children has continued to rise despite the transfer of authority, indicating serious shortcomings in governance and implementation at the provincial level.

In his view, the solution lies in bringing education closer to the people by handing it over to local governments. He argued that empowering local bodies could improve accountability, monitoring, and service delivery, ensuring that education policies are implemented more effectively at the grassroots level.