The dialogue is being organized by AKU-IED with support from the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. This is the first of a series of five dialogues to be held on key issues in education, one each in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. Other themes for future dialogues are expected to include Decentralization, Public Private Partnership, and Monitoring and Evaluation. These themes have been identified by a steering committee comprising representatives of the federal and provincial governments, the NGO sector, university education departments, DFID and AKU.

The participants would include policy makers from the federal, provincial and district levels in the government, researchers, teachers, teacher educators, and representatives of NGOs and donors.

These dialogues are being initiated on the premise that research receives little attention in the policy making process and policies are generally based on informed opinions or political considerations only. Furthermore, there is a lack of quality research, which could impact policy. Possible outcomes of the policy dialogues are identification of priority areas for policy research and analysis; initiation of proposals and research partnerships between private, public and NGOs, and identification of new (and neglected) areas of relevance. It is also expected that these outcomes will influence the culture of educational policy making and practices by promoting the role of inquiry and evidence-based decision making.

A discussions report on policy dialogue will be available online at www.aku.edu after the event.