Dr. Tahir Andrabi, Dean at the Syed Ahsan Ali and Syed Maratib Ali School of Education (SOE) conducted a session for the Alumni Homecoming weekend 2018 on the topic of ‘Evidence Based Policymaking in Naya Pakistan’ on December 14, 2018 at LUMS. The session was attended by LUMS alumni, SOE faculty, staff, and LUMS Vice Chancellor, Dr. Arshad Ahmad. Dr. Andrabi kick-started the session by asking all the attendees to introduce themselves to each other.
The session aimed to stress the importance of data and census in the policymaking process, and how it can help policymakers in formulating better policies. The session comprised mainly the usage of Statistical data software ‘STATA.’ Dr. Andrabi guided all the attendees to use the software, through which the attendees could refer to the PSLM (Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement) Statistics.
The main policy discussion revolved around education and literacy in Pakistan. He discussed the issue of adult literacy, out-of-school children, late enrolments and retention issues. He also emphasised the importance of taking an approach based on equity when formulating policies. Dr. Andrabi said that alongside meritocracy, it is also important to enable participation, thus it is important that both equity and meritocracy are aligned.
Dr. Arshad Ahmad also participated in the discussion and discussed the issues present in the data regarding higher education. Dr. Andrabi reiterated the importance of clear, concise and up to date data statistics in order to pave way for better policy formulation.
The session was interactive and ended on a high note with several alumni and faculty members engaging in insightful exchanges.
