Britain's Department for International Development (DIFD) will cooperate with the Education Department of Pakistan's Punjab province to provide support for the reform process in the education sector. The joint venture will focus on the improvement of the management of the education sector in consistence with the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme, a DIFD official said. Nargis Sultana of DFID_s Education Division said that the long-term goal of the programme was to support the government move towards a sector wide approach to education development. Through this programme, the Punjab Education Department will receive assistance according to its requirements as specified by the department's own planning process. She said that five areas had been earmarked for the implementation of the programme to strengthen the system. The foremost goal will be to reinforce the institutional capacity of the provincial education department. Moreover, the programme will also aim at enhancing education management capacity of the district governments. At the same time, increasing community participation to accomplish the tasks will also remain on the priority list. --more 1333 Local Time 1033 GMT
