Primary, middle schools: Punjab to spend Rs three billion on provision of facilities

The Punjab government will spend Rs 3 billion for providing various missing facilities in primary and middle schools, during the current fiscal year, to improve the academic standards of the public sector schools. This was stated by Chairman of the Punjab Education Foundation, Muhammad Anwar in a meeting with a delegation of PEF partner schoolteachers comprising 10 members who called on him in his office on Friday.
Anwar said that education is the basic right of all the children. He said that different interventions, like capacity building of teachers and education managers, continued assessment of learning achievements through examination, provision of free textbooks, IT and science labs have, already been introduced. Moreover, he said, upgradation of schools from Primary to Elementary level and from Elementary to High level, and provision of various missing facilities, including drinking water, sanitation, boundary walls, electricity, furniture and toilet blocks are also major initiatives of Punjab government's development portfolio.
In order to improve existing science labs in secondary schools and to strengthen science practical education, a development scheme has been proposed and in the first phase, one thousand igh/Higher Secondary Schools, having highest enrolment, will be provided quality science equipment, and standardised practical books will also be developed under this scheme, he added. Anwar impressed upon the teaching community to pay special attention to character building of their students and promote the leadership traits in them so that the students could emerge as best nation-builders.