PEF is the biggest free educational program. Dr. Aneela Salman

Lahore: A Steering Committee Meeting of the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) was held on Monday in a local hotel with Managing Director PEF, Dr. Aneela Salman in the chair.

The meeting was attended by PEF Deputy Managing Director Salman Anwar Malik, Program Directors, and members of the McKinsey Roadmap Team including Alia Usmani, Shahrukh and Haroon Sethi.

The meeting held a detailed review of Public Private Partnership based school education programs of the PEF and expressed the satisfaction that PEF has opened the doors of schools to the needy children, and as a result of its useful interventions, the life of such children has taken a positive turn.

While addressing the meeting, Dr. Aneela Salman said that the total number of PEF affiliated private schools in Punjab has reached to about 45 hundred and this number is further expanding due to the expansion in different programs. She told that currently 1.7 million male and female needy students are enrolled in PEF partner schools in Punjab, adding that as a result of different expansions, this number will rise to about 2 million within a year. She told that agreements have been signed with two different civil society organizations which will enroll 32 thousand out of school children in Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan districts. She expressed the satisfaction that as a result of strong support and technical assistance provided by the Foundation, the total number of students has increased to seven thousand in PEF partner 75 community schools in Cholistan area of Bahawalpur division.  She told that PEF is effectively utilizing information and communication technologies in its system to make its pubic private partnership based models more effective, efficient and result-oriented. In this regard, an updated teachers’ information system has been launched as well as rolling out pilot of electronic attendance system from Lahore which will be rolled out across other districts by September this year. She directed the IT Department to devise capacity building plan of teachers with regard to E-Register System as it is an efficient mechanism to ensure transparency.

On the occasion, McKinsey Roadmap Team expressed the satisfaction that PEF is doing a wonderful job by promoting education in the deserving communities.