Punjab government would provide Rs 150 million to the district governments for the education sector, and in the forthcoming provincial budget more funds would be given to this vital sector.
Punjab Education Minister Imran Masood stated this during a general discussion on Education here at the Punjab Assembly on Friday.
Imran maintained that the Punjab government has taken measures to revamp the education system in the province, with main focus of accessing education to all. He added that it was a constitutional obligation of the government to provide education to its citizens.
He pointed out that there were 63,117 schools with full facilities in the province that caters 9 million children and last year 43 billion of rupees were allocated for the education sector, highest in the Punjab's history.
He admitted that there were 83,000 schools without proper facilities for which 21 billion of rupees have been allocated, spread over three years. Moreover, the Punjab government has made education free up to class 10, which would cost the provincial treasury Rs 420 million, he added.
He added that checking school drop out ratio and increasing school enrolment was part of education policy of the government. It has been observed that due to poverty many children dropout from schools, 90 percent of them constitute girls. Thus, to encourage girls to go to school, the government had decided to give Rs 200 as stipend to them.
Among the other measures taken were establishment of education councils and foundations in order to involve local communities' participation in the development of the education sector.
He said that they were in the process of developing a linkage between schools, colleges and universities.
"The Punjab Education Department has improved teacher training programme and also revised the curriculum to enhance the education standard. Teachers' recruitment has been made transparent, and since the induction of present government all recruitment of teachers have been made on merit," he added.
Dr Farzana Nazir, the Parliamentary Secretary on Health, said on the occasion that uplift of the education sector was directly linked with the wellbeing of teachers.
She said that low salaries were forcing teachers to find other avenues to generate income, such as private tuition, which has commercialised education. She advocated for improving the financial status of teachers, which would encourage them to impart education with dedication.
She also advocated that contract system should be ended, as under this system low caliber teachers were being inducted on very low salaries.
Sami Ullah Khan, a legislator of opposition benches said that Pakistan stands very low in the education field in the South Asia region. He said it was appalling to note that primary and secondary schools enrolment was the lowest in the region, which stands at 36 percent.
Moreover, in the higher education, India produces 500 Ph.D. every year, while in comparison Pakistan produces 50, and with these appalling figures we try to compete with India.
According to him, it was shocking to know that many schools in the province were without buildings, potable-water, libraries and dispensaries. In information technology day, educated manpower was considered a national asset, but we have ignored this vital fact.
Earlier, question-answer session on Irrigation and Power Department was held in the House.
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