Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Muhammad Afzal Sahi has said the government has taken a lot of revolutionary steps to improve the standard of education sector.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Government Islamia Degree College Chiniot, he said: "In the past, there were many villages, even union councils without schools but now every village has an elementary or a high school."
He said the Punjab Assembly had passed bills to set up 14 new universities while the previous regimes had failed to build even 14 new colleges.
Recalling his childhood, he said he had passed primary from a dilapidated primary school at Sahianwala, which was now a higher secondary school, matriculated from a high school at Sirajwala, which was now a degree college, graduated from Government College Faisalabad which was now the GC University.
He said two link roads to Chiniot-Bairanwala Banglow Road and Sarh-Muradwala Road had been completed while work at Chiniot-Chak Jhumra Road would be completed at a cost of Rs 240 million by the end of this year. "The Sahianwala Industrial Estate is being constructed which will be the country's biggest one and will benefit this tehsil too," he said.
He said he would do his best to solve the problems of the college.
In reply to a query, he said no politician from Chiniot had opposed the up-gradation of Chiniot to a district, which would benefit the entire area.
In his welcome address, Principal Sheikh Pervez Ahmad said the college had produced hundreds of scientists, doctors, engineers, teachers and businessmen and even the scientist who pushed the button of the nuclear blast in Chaghi Hills was its former student.
He said the college was the only post-graduate institution in the tehsil, but was facing acute shortage of teachers. "There are only 35 lecturers for thousands of students of science, arts and commerce disciplines," he said adding that philanthropists were contributing Rs 54,000 per month to pay the salaries of ad hoc staff. He said the classes of B Com, MA Islamiat and MA English were started a couple of years ago, but yet no staff was provided for them.
Former MNA Qaisar Ahmad Sheikh said the government should give more funds and resources for this sector. He said he would set up a National University Campus here if the required land were given.
Eminent Industrialist Mian Zahid Anwar announced to provide five acres piece of land on Jhang Road for the construction of the Fast Campus and National University Campus. He said the science block was built at a cost of Rs seven million.