Education Structures

Education Structures and Processes in Balochistan

4.1. SCHOOL TYPES 4.2. ORGANISATIONS

4. Education Structures and Processes in Balochistan
Education is organised into three different departments: Secondary Education Department (SED), Higher Education Department (HED) and Social Welfare Department (SWD), having their own specialised units, tools and functions to cater to the needs of the education sector in Balochistan. By not considering pre-primary Early Childhood Education (ECE) level wise the total number of school years are 12. With pre-primary ECE, two more years are added. BESP covers Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), which being an integral discipline of education, training and learning activity helps beneficiaries secure skilled jobs or opt for self-employment. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector is significant for Balochistan in order to achieve socio-economic growth and provide better employment opportunities to youth.

School Types

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4.1. School Types
School education is imparted in two types of schools: formal and non-formal. Formal schools include all institutions run by the Secondary Education Department, as well as, other organisations of the provincial and federal governments within Balochistan. Additionally, private schools and madrassas registered under Balochistan Compulsory Education Act 2014 are also considered formal schools under law. Non-formal schools or institutions are set up as a second opportunity for children who have either missed schools or have been dropped out. These are overseen by the Directorate of Literacy and Non-Formal Education (DLNFE) of the Department of Social Welfare. Due to data limitations, details of private schools and madrassas are not available. Lately, the data collection process has begun.
Level wise, formal schools are from K to 12, where K denotes pre-primary level. The latter is a mixed situation. Most primary schools have the traditional ‘kachi’ class, where these pre-primary school children are the most ignored group in school. Others have more established early childhood education programs based on a structured curriculum built on ECE’s modern precepts. These schools are a minority. Details have been shared in the relevant section on Early Chilhood Education (ECE).
Levels are denoted as follows:

i. Primary: Grades 1-5
ii. Middle: Grades 6-8
iii. Secondary: Grades 9-10
iv. Higher Secondary: Grade 11-12


Grades 1-8 are also sometimes combined to be called elementary. Secondary is also known as matriculate and higher secondary as intermediate34. Schools are designated based on the most senior class available. All colleges also have grades 11 to 12, although these are part of the school. The school curriculum is from grades 1-12.
Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 (secondary and higher secondary) are the starting point for determining career choices of students. At the secondary level, the main choice is between the arts and sciences. These split into a number of other options at the higher secondary level like pre-medical, pre-engineering, commerce etc. The decisions are impacted by the high stakes examinations held by the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE), especially, beyond secondary.

34 Hence the term ‘intermediate’ in the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.

Table 4-1 shows the schools managed by SED. These are categorized as primary, middle, high and higher secondary based on the highest level of education available:
Table 4-1 Number of Schools in Balochistan 2018-19

In all 1519 middle schools have primary sections and 1242 high and higher secondary schools also have primary sections in addition to the middle.
The SED has upgraded 119 High Schools to Higher Secondary School by starting classes XI & XII with the vision to reduce the gap between the secondary and Higher secondary education.

Intermediate in Colleges

4.1.1. Intermediate in Colleges
There 88 Intermediate and 47 degree colleges in the province. While intermediate colleges only conduct classes 11 and 12, the degree colleges have undergraduate and graduate programmes. Colleges, including intermediate colleges, are managed by the Higher Education Department. Table 4-2 shows detaisl of intermediate colleges:

Table 4-2 Colleges, Balochistan 2019

All degree colleges also have intermediate classes.

Organisations

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4.2. Organisations
The work of education, except for technical and vocational education, is split into the following three departments:

1. Secondary Education Department (SED)
2. Higher Education Department (HED), and
3. Social Welfare Department (SWD).

Secondary Education Department is responsible for school education from pre-primary ECE till grade 12. Higher Education Department is responsible for college education for graduate and post graduate students and it also manages certain schools like the residential colleges. Social Welfare Department looks after special education and non-formal education.
Each of these departments has a provincial civil secretariat headed by a Secretary. The secretariat develops polices for their respective sectors which are executed through their working organisations detailed as under.

Secondary Education Department

4.2.1. Secondary Education Department
This department is responsible for the promotion of education from ECE till grade 12. It administers 14,979 schools and provides services of over 55,000 teachers and also plans for the future. SED also has the support of the Policy Planning and Implementation Unit (PPIU), Directorate of Education (Schools), Bureau of Curriculum & Extension Center (BOC&EC), Provincial Institute of Teachers Education (PITE), Balochistan Textbook Board (BTBB), Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE) and Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC). All except BBISE, that is part of the Higher Education Department, function under SED. Their responsibilities are as follows:

Policy Planning and Implementation Unit (PPIU) provides policy and planning support to the Secretariat.

Directorate of Education (Schools) is responsible for the management of all schools and their personnel managed by 7 divisional directors and a District Education Officer (DEO) in each district. These DEOs are supported by District Officer Male and Female and officers/staff working under them.

Bureau of Curriculum and Extension Center (BOC&EC) is responsible for development of curriculum, review of textbooks, education standards and pre-service teacher education colleges run by the Department of Secondary Education.

Balochistan Textbook Board (BTBB) is responsible for regulation of textbooks in the province.

Provincial Institute of Teacher Education (PITE) provides in service teacher training.

Balochistan Assessment and Examination Commission (BAEC) holds diagnostic assessments for elementary levels (1-8) and large scale examinations for grade 8 only. The Commission also has the mandate for development of teachers’ capacity in assessment.
While all of the above report to the Department of Secondary Education,
Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BBISE) which conducts large scale, high stakes examinations for secondary and higher secondary levels, reports to the Department of Higher Education

Balochistan Education Foundation (BEF) operates as an autonomous body to support the functions of Secondary Education Department (SED). It has in the past engaged in schooling through public private partnerships (PPPs) and is currently responsible for regulation and registration of private schools.

Higher Education Department

4.2.2. Higher Education Department
The structure of the Higher Education Department is as under:
Directorate of Colleges (DOC): The Directorate of Colleges and Higher Education is mandated to administer and manage public colleges functioning in the province. It is headed by a Director, supported by an Additional Director, Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors. All these posts are filled from the staff teaching in various colleges. The DOC decides all the matters related to administrative and financial concerns. It represents the Higher Education Department in the Universities functioning in Balochistan.

Balochistan Academy for College Teacher (BACT): Its mandate is professional development of college teachers. It not only invites in-service college teacher to update their knowledge and teaching skills but it also imparts trainings to the principals and vice principals in administrative and financial functions. The staff of the BACT is drawn from the college cadre.

Directorate of Technical Education: The Directorate of Technical Education is responsible to manage the Polytechnic Institutes in the province.

Technical and Vocational Education

4.2.3. Technical and Vocational Education
There is an overall authority for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) called Balochistan Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (BTEVTA). Balochistan Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (BTEVTA) is responsible for quality control and support to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions. The institutions are run by other departments like the Department of Higher Education, Industries and Labor. BTEVTA has an overall role of setting standards and providing support to the technical institutions. There are 8 polytechnic institutes and one college of technology in Quetta and one institute of technology in Gwadar. Table 4-3 gives the detail:
Table 4-3 TVET Institutes, Balochistan

In addition to the above there are 141 vocational training institutions. Out of these 95 are for males and 46 for females.

Accelerated Learning Pathways

4.2.4. Non-Formal Education/ Accelerated Learning Pathways (ALP)
A number of NFE programs are being run in the province. Data is available for those being run by districts prioritised by the Directorate of Literacy and Non-Formal Education (DLNFE). These are given in Table 4-4.

Table 4-4 ALP Package and Gender Wise Enrollment in Focus Districts

Universities

4.2.5. Universities
Nine universities function in the province as shown in Table 4-5 below. Out of these seven universities run programs on education. Balochistan University of Engineering & Technology, Khuzdar and The Bolan University of Medical and Health Sciences, Quetta are the two exceptions. Table 4-5 Universities, Balochistan

In addition to the above students of Balochistan have access to Federal Universities as part of the provincial quota and also through seats available in universities in other provinces.

35 The list of Universities in Balochistan is also available on Uni Rank website; https://www.4icu.org/pk/balochistan. The same is verified by the officials at University of Balochistan

Additionally, distant learning programs through the Virtual University and the Allama Iqbal Open University are also available.