Punjab Govt starts spending Gorden Brown foundation’s grant :Rana Mashud

Lahore:  Provincial Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan has said that as many as 35 lakh children will be enrolled in schools in Punjab from 14^thAugust to 21^st October under Universal Primary Enrollment Campaign. He said that special survey committees will pay visits on monthly basis to check how many new students are still studying at schools and how many have dropped out. He said that action will be taken against the headmasters and concerned teachers of such schools where the number of students showed a decrease.

This was stated by him while addressing a press conference at Directorate General Public Relations Punjab today. Secretary Schools Punjab Abdul Jabbar Shaheen and DGPR Amjad Hussain were also present on the occasion.

The Minister said that Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif will inaugurate Universal Primary Enrollment Campaign at the flag hoisting ceremony to be held on August 14 at 8:30 am at Aiwan-e-Iqbal Lahore.

It may be mentioned that the ceremony was to be held at Hazoori Bagh Lahore but due to uncertain weather and rain forecast this event now will be held at Aiwan-e-Iqbal. Addressing the press conference, the Minister said that 28 lakh children of four to nine years of age get admission in private and public schools each year but there are 22 lakh such children of this age group who have never enrolled. He said Punjab government has decided that seven lakh such children will be enrolled in schools every year who have been deprived of education facility and this backlog will be cleared during next three years. He said that 35 lakh children will be enrolled in nursery class from August 14 to October 21 under Universal Primary Enrollment Campaign this year.

The campaign will be continued during next two years to ensure that no child is deprived of primary education during the next three years.

The Minister further said that this campaign for the promotion of the education is being started on August 14 as this year Independence Day will be celebrated as the day of freedom from ignorance. He said that zonal committees comprising teachers, students, social workers, youth groups, boy scouts and girl guides have been formed at district, tehsil, mohallah and street level which will motivate the parents of their respective areas to send their children to schools. He said that a proposal is also being considered to provide scholarships with the cooperation of philanthropists to such children as are supporting their families. He said that a monthly stipend of Rs.200 is already being given to each girl child which is studying in backward districts of the province.

Similarly, he said that scholarships are being given on merit to 50 thousand deserving students in Punjab through PEEF while Punjab Education Foundation will provide free education to 40 lakh out of school children during next five years. He said that Punjab government will impart vocational training to lakhs of youths to enable them earn their livelihood in a respectable manner.

Replying to a question, the Minister said that action will be taken against such private housing societies where plots have not been allocated by the developers for setting up public or private schools. He said that Punjab government has completed survey about the shortage of teachers in government schools and 30 thousand teachers will be recruited in Punjab by January 2014 to make up this shortage. He said that new classrooms will be constructed on priority basis in such schools where the number of children is expected to increase as a result of Universal Primary Enrollment Campaign. He said that the government has given approval to special funds of seven billion rupees for the constriction of 15 thousand classrooms during next three years and the Chief Minister has directed that efforts should be made for increasing this number to 20 thousand new classrooms.

The Minister further said that a sum of eight billion rupees has been allocated in the provincial budget for the provision of missing facilities in government schools of the province.