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Written Question
Pakistan: Education
Tuesday 16th April 2019

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has allocated to each educational project in Pakistan in each of the last three years.

Answered by Harriett Baldwin

Since 2011, DFID has benefited 10 million primary and nearly 6 million secondary students in Pakistan. This support is mainly focussed on schools in the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh with our two largest sector reform programmes operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In the last 3 years DFID Pakistan has spent the following on each education project:

Project

2016/2017

2017/2018

2018/2019

Total

202328 - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Education Sector Programme

£36.4m

£34.2m

£28.9m

£99.5m

202491 - Transforming Education in Pakistan

£3m

£3m

£2m

£8m

202697 - Punjab Education Support Programme II

£68.4

£64.1m

£41.6m

£174.1m

204277 - Ilm Ideas Education Innovation Programme II

£3.3m

£5.5m

£8.3

£17.1m

300238 - Sindh Education Non-State Actors (SENSA)

£3.1m

£3.6m

£1.8m

£8.5m


Written Question
Pakistan: Overseas Aid
Tuesday 20th November 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what (a) education and (b) interfaith initiatives her Department has funded in Pakistan to promote tolerance and interfaith harmony in schools in each year for which information is available, and how much her Department has spent on each such initiative.

Answered by Alistair Burt

Since 2011, DFID has benefited 10 million primary and nearly 6 million secondary students in Pakistan. Inclusion and respect for minorities forms an integral part of provincial and national education programmes. Our work to promote tolerance and interfaith harmony includes: training nearly 100,000 teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab in equity and inclusion; funding the Alif Ailaan education campaign which focusses on religious minorities; and engaging with education civil society organisations to champion issues of inclusion and raise these with government. Through the KP Education Support Programme (KESP) and the Punjab Education Support Programme II (PESP II), DFID has also provided technical assistance to provincial governments to revise the school curriculum and remove discriminatory content from textbooks. Since 2011, DFID has invested £678.7m in education in Pakistan, including £122.7m in 2017/18.


Written Question
Pakistan: Education
Tuesday 10th July 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the prevalence of (a) religious bias in education policy and (b) religious hate material in textbooks in Sindh and Punjab states in Pakistan; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Alistair Burt

DFID does not hold information on the prevalence of religious bias in education policy. However, respect for human rights, including the provisions of non-discrimination and protection for freedom of religion is one of the four Partnership Principles that guide the DFID Pakistan programme, and which are also set out in Pakistan’s constitution. A Partnership Principles Assessment provides the basis for regular bilateral assistance talks between the UK and Pakistan and is regularly reviewed.

While DFID has not carried out a general review of textbooks in Sindh, we have reviewed textbooks used in DFID supported non-government primary schools in Sindh. DFID has carried out an internal review of textbooks used in the public sector in Punjab and KP.


Written Question
Pakistan: Textbooks
Friday 6th July 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps her Department has taken to review and monitor the content of textbooks in states throughout Pakistan for material which is biased and discriminatory towards religious minorities.

Answered by Alistair Burt

DFID’s technical assistance teams in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab regularly report on efforts to reduce the gender gaps and biases with respect to religion, regions, race, and ethnicity in school textbooks. In 2017 DFID carried out an internal review of official provincial government primary textbooks in KP and Punjab and of books used in non-government primary schools supported by DFID in Sindh, which did not find content inciting religious hatred or promoting intolerance. We continue to monitor progress and lobby provincial governments at senior levels to prioritise inclusion and religious tolerance.


Written Question
Pakistan: Education
Friday 6th July 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to address biased or hate material in textbooks and curricula as part of her Department's sponsored education support programmes in (a) Punjab, (b) Sindh and (c) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan.

Answered by Alistair Burt

DFID has supported the provincial governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in Pakistan to revise specific textbooks including replacing any content that promotes prejudice and discrimination against religious or other minorities. In KP the subjects covered are English, mathematics, general knowledge and science. In Punjab, the focus is on English, Urdu, science and mathematics. DFID technical assistance to both provincial governments is also increasing the capability of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board and the KP Textbook Board to carry out this work. In Sindh, DFID only supports education through non-state sector schools run by BRAC, The Citizen’s Foundation and Family Educational Services Foundation. An internal DFID review of texts books used in these schools in 2017 did not identify concerns.


Written Question
Pakistan: Overseas Aid
Thursday 21st June 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent in Pakistan in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Alistair Burt

A breakdown of each financial year is as follows:

17/18

To be published in the DFID Annual Report in July.

16/17

£422.1m

15/16

£336.3m

14/15

£255.4m

13/14

£253.0m

12/13

£203.1m

11/12

£215.8m

10/11

£205.6m

09/10

£138.7m

08/09

£119.9m


Written Question
Pakistan: Education
Thursday 21st June 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on education projects in Pakistan in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Alistair Burt

In the last ten years, DFID has spent the following on educational projects in Pakistan:

17/18

£110.5m

12/13

£64.5m

16/17

£112.6m

11/12

£41.2m

15/16

£78.9m

10/11

£38m

14/15

£101.8m

09/10

£19.5m

13/14

£90.9m

08/09

£14.95m


Written Question
Pakistan: Textbooks
Thursday 21st June 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent on funding textbooks in Pakistan in each of the last 10 years.

Answered by Alistair Burt

DFID does not fund the production of any textbooks in Pakistan.


Written Question
Disasters Emergency Committee: Charitable Donations
Tuesday 23rd January 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the proportion of donations received by the Disasters Emergency Committee that are from people between the ages of 41 and 65.

Answered by Alistair Burt

The department does not hold or collate this information.


Written Question
Disasters Emergency Committee: Charitable Donations
Tuesday 23rd January 2018

Asked by: Siobhain McDonagh (Labour - Mitcham and Morden)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the proportion of donations received by the Disasters Emergency Committee that are from people between the ages of 25 and 40.

Answered by Alistair Burt

The department does not hold or collate this information