PEF shouldering free education of 1.6 million needy students

Lahore: The sustained reforms initiated by the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) in school education sector have produced long-lasting effects to ensure that no child is left unattended. As a result of these reforms, the foundation has emerged as a strong hope for the unattended children by opening the doors of schools to them. This has also helped in promoting girls-education at the grassroots.

Managing Director PEF, Dr. Aneela Salman said this while presiding over a departmental meeting at her office on Wednesday. Deputy MD Salman Anwar Malik as well as program directors attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed in detail the pace of development on different PEF sponsored free educational programs and expressed the hope that these useful interventions will help to achieve 100 percent literacy. The meeting was told that the foundation is strenuously engaged in partnering new low-cost private schools under its free education programs and the total number of newly partnered schools in the Punjab will exceed to 1500 this academic year alone. Currently, PEF has arranged free schooling of more than 1.6 million most deserving male and female students in 36 districts of the province through its four thousand partner schools. She told that PEF is going to launch ‘schools improvement program’ for the needy partners which need some sort of academic support to improve the quality of education. This beneficial program will also guide and help the needy partners to improve their performance in annually held Quality Assurance Tests (QATs). A total of one hundred partner schools from different districts have been short-listed to attend this free program which will commence from next week under the aegis of Continuous Professional Development Program (CPDP) of the foundation.

MD PEF also expressed the satisfaction that six million textbooks have been distributed by the foundation in four thousand partner schools situated in 36 districts in an efficient, timely and transparent manner. These books are only meant for the students and their sale in the market is strictly prohibited, she added.

The meeting also reviewed other issues relevant to the promotion of education through private partners.