Promotion of education top priority, says Buzdar

Promotion of education top priority, says Buzdar

LAHORE (Dunya News) - Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said on Tuesday that Islam has stressed upon the human beings to seek knowledge while terming it a lost legacy of the faithful, adding that promotion of education is a manifesto of the PTI.

Addressing the Punjab Education Convention here at Governor House, he added that a 66 percent increase was made in the development budget and 286 percent and 29 percent increase was made in higher education and school education budgets, respectively as the government was striving to educate every child.

School Education Department (SED) was working to ensure equitable access to quality education by every child and historic steps were taken in this regard. Meanwhile, Punjab school education policy 2020 was also introduced, he mentioned.

The CM said Punjab was the leading province to introduce an e-transfer policy for the Education department and more than 86000 teachers had benefited from it. E-retirement, e-promotion, e-pension and e-leave facilities were also available and teachers did not need any connection in this regard, he said.

More than 31,000 STIs would be recruited in different phases to overcome teachers’ shortage in government schools and recruitment of more than 33000 educators would also be started soon in different categories.

Recruitment rules were relaxed to overcome teachers’ shortage in 10 backward districts and locals were being recruited under hardship policy, he said. The past government upgraded 1330 schools in five years while the PTI government had upgraded 1533 schools in just three years.

A total of 27000 schools, including 40% from south Punjab and 53% girls schools, would be upgraded. As many as 7000 schools would be upgraded in the current financial year, he continued.

The CM said work on 600 projects was in motion to restore dilapidated school buildings. Similarly, necessary facilities were being provided in schools under a programme aimed at ensuring missing facilities for the students. More than 2000 classrooms had been built with assistance from DFID and 1,000 science and IT labs’ restoration projects had also been completed, he said.

Buzdar said that 400 school libraries were provided in 17 districts and 110 model schools were near completion in 11 districts. The government had also converted more than 11000 schools to solar energy which mostly function in backward areas of south Punjab, he said.

The CM said elementary afternoon classes were started in 577 primary schools to educate 2,2000 students under the Insaf Afternoon Programme. He pointed out that parents were given relief by reducing fees of private schools in the corona and online recorded live lectures and courses facility would also be provided under Insaf Academy.

Meanwhile, 2,3000 students of 100 different schools were being provided quality food in collaboration with an NGO in Lahore while a programme was under consideration to provide a balanced diet to destitute children of 12 backward districts, he added.

He said one million children had been enrolled in a 6 months under-enrollment campaign besides giving attention to teaching and training of transgenders.

The maiden transgender school had been established in Multan and the school-based assessment system had been introduced in public schools by abolishing the traditional examination of primary and eighth classes, he added.

The Danish schools system was being improved and incomplete projects of boys and girls Danish schools in Tibba Sultanpur Vehari and centre of excellence in Nankana Sahib had been made functional. Similarly, the centre of excellence in Chakwal and Danish schools in Tandlianwala, Taunsa and Mankeera would also be completed soon. The government would continue to take steps for the promotion of education, concluded the CM.