PEF targets 2.3 million enrollment by the end of 2016

Lahore: As a result of continued annual expansions in the free educational initiatives of the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF), the total number of beneficiary students would rise to as much as 2.3 million by the end of this year.

MD PEF Tariq Mahmood said this while briefing the program committee members about expansion plans in partnership with the private school partners at his office on Tuesday. The meeting which held with convener Dr. Amjad Saqib in the chair, reviewed different agenda-items including programs’ expansion & their budget estimations for the next financial year and effective exploitation of public private partnership based initiatives.

MD PEF gave a detailed presentation about foundation’s role and its contribution in providing free schooling facility to the deserving children at their doorsteps. He said that PEF is working hard to achieve different educational targets, adding that more than hundred monitoring and evaluation assistants have been hired to maintain effective monitoring mechanism of partner schools in districts. He told that inclusive education has been introduced for the needy differently-abled children in seven selected districts including Lahore.

These students are studying side by side of the able students. The meeting was informed that capacity building of six thousand teachers has been planned through directorate of staff development.

For this purpose, 145 trainings would be held in six different districts. The meeting observed that the process of teachers’ certification would help to improve the overall quality of education by introducing them new concepts in their subjects. It also noted with satisfaction the 45 percent ratio of girls in PEF sponsored schools and observed that this proportion may be further increased to 50 percent so that gender- equality could be fully maintained. Program directors briefed the meeting about their respective program’s performance.

Dr. Amjad Saqib asked the program heads to work proactively and ensure that their school partners’ grievances are well taken care of so that the agenda of education-promotion could be achieved.