Education sector: Punjab chief minister reviews pace of implementation of reforms plan

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif presided over a high-level meeting here on Thursday which reviewed the pace of implementation of reforms programme in education sector. The meeting expressed its satisfaction over the steps taken under reforms programme for ensuring attendance of teachers in schools and promotion of quality education.
Addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said that Punjab government has evolved a splendid programme for achieving the targets in education sector till 2018. He said that under 'Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab' programme the attendance of teachers has substantially improved in schools. He said that promotion of quality education is his mission and it will be fulfilled at any cost. He said that Punjab government would continue to provide funds for this purpose in future as well. He said that appointments of teachers in Punjab have been made purely on merit due to which the standard of education is improving.
Sharif said that commitment and hard work is necessary for achieving the targets of the reforms programme. He said that quality education is the basic right of every child and Punjab government is ensuring this right. The meeting also decided to launch pilot programme for mobile training of teachers.
Under this programme, modern training will be imparted to teachers in schools. The chief minister announced a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each for EDO Education Gujranwala Muhammad Sohaib Imran and EDO Education Narowal Ayaz Sabir for their outstanding performance for achieving educational targets. He said the system of reward and punishment is essential for the achievement of the targets in education sector. He said that officers showing good performance will be encouraged while inefficient officials will be held accountable. He said that the target of provision of quality education to children will have to be achieved at any cost.
He said that Punjab government would continue to provide resources for the promotion of quality education. He said that continuous and effective measures are needed for provision of quality education to children in schools. He said that provision of funds for promotion of quality education is a useful investment in the future of the country and there will be no shortage of resources for this purpose.
The chief minister further said that attendance of teachers and students in schools has substantially improved. However, there is a need for continuous monitoring of the steps taken in this regard. He said that Punjab government has made investment of billions of rupees in education sector during the last seven years. However, it is only the beginning of a long journey. He said that quality education is the right of every child and the principle of honesty and hard work will have to be adopted for ensuring this right.
Musharraf Zaidi of Alif Ailan Programme gave a briefing to the chief minister on the survey of schools in Gujranwala and Narowal and the pace of implementation of education reforms programme. He said that during the survey in Gujranwala and Narowal, attendance of teachers was 97 percent and credit for this goes to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his team. Musharraf Zaidi further said that the policy of Sharif regarding appointment of teachers on merit has been very successful due to which the standard of education is improving in schools.