'Punjab government working hard to achieve 88 percent literacy by 2015'

Punjab Education Minister, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said on Monday the provincial government is working hard to achieve 88 percent literacy by 2015 to fulfil the international commitment under millennium development goals. In a statement he said 262,500 students under the age of 4 to 15 years were getting education under informal basic education schools.
The Minister said that the amount of Punjab Educational Endowment Fund which was initially Rs 2 billion has now increased to Rs 8 billion. He said financial assistance was being provided to 35,000 deserving students for higher education under the fund. He said that a target of 1.5 million had been fixed this year for steps for the promotion of education through the Punjab Education Foundation. He said 2.5 million boy and girl students were getting computer education every year in the province through the IT promotion programme of the Punjab chief minister.