Minister Education hosted a luncheon in honour of the Members of Punjab Assembly

Lahore: Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan today hosted a luncheon in honour of the Members of Punjab Assembly in a local hotel.

Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan also graced the occasion with his presence along with the senior officers of School Education Department Punjab, its lined departments and the representatives of donor agencies working in education sector.

The MPAs were given detailed briefing about the progress achieved in the policy formation and implementation status of the Punjab Education Sector Reforms Roadmap.

While addressing the parliamentarians, Speaker Punjab Assembly Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan said that the Schools Reforms Roadmap has been chalked out as per the existing parameters in the world which equally hold good to implement the educational vision of the Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif. This roadmap does not serve any personal or political glory but serve the national interest. The elected representatives should extend all out cooperation for effective implementation of this reforms programme with full zeal setting aside any local preferences because one has to scarify for greater national interests, the Speaker Punjab Assembly added.

Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan remarked that he has observed considerable improvement in the public sector schools all over Punjab during the last six years. The echo of this marvelous success was also heard in London when I received feedback pertaining to this reforms roadmap during my stay in Britannia which made me proud of my nation.

He termed the promotion of education a perpetual noble cause and emphasized upon the elected representatives to play their role in ensuring that the fruits of education reforms should reach at the grass root level.

Earlier, Education Minister Punjab Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan in his address emphasized the need to act upon the school education reforms effectively because education helps disseminate social awareness among the masses and the development packages devised for these areas having social awareness also yield in a better way. Almost all the developed countries have achieved progress and prosperity due to their better educational system.

He said, we have identified the short comings in our education system and the required solutions have also been ascertained with the active collaboration of world famous educational organizations like DFID, British Council, UKTI, McKenzie and German International Support Programme GIG which include merit based teachers recruitment, transfer and rationalization policies, decentralized resource management, performance incentives for teachers, strengthening school councils, provision and use of school performance information through report cards, private school vouchers through Punjab Education Foundation, Stipend for girls students, provision of free textbooks, provision of missing facilities, upgradation of schools, establishment of Daanish schools and Centers for Excellence, provision of IT labs, construction of additional class rooms to accommodate newly enrolled students, E-learning and Digitalization of curricular books, provision solar lamps, provision of Tablets to monitoring staff, teachers licensing and certification along with provision and improvement of curricula. The Minister stressed the need to implement all these reforms in a coordinated manner in the field.

He said that the teachers and executive district officers (Education) showing good performance under the given parameters would be appreciated by the government while those who failed to perform would be dealt with harshly to the extent that their services could be terminated. He informed the public representatives that the Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has directed to make postings and transfers in Education Sector strictly on merit basis which would help increase the performance of our teachers.

He announced to establish a Complaint Cell in his office to redress any violation of merit and said this complaint cell will remain open round the clock seven days in a week. He also referred to the establishment of a redressal system with a retired justice of High Court in chair.

The complainants can also submit their cases to this redressal system if they are denied justice at the level of district committees established for this purpose.