Punjab Minister for Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Hussain Jahanian Gardezi has said that poverty reduction and human development are the priority areas of the government under "Education for All" (EFA) Programme and a number of projects have been launched in this regard.
Presiding over a departmental meeting here on Friday, the minister said that education sector reforms are aimed at for the development of education sector with a special focus on EFA that would ultimately lead to literacy promotion. He said that despite economic constraints government is spending heavy amount on literacy, which is a clear expression of its political will and commitment to EFA Programme.
In the past, unfortunately we could not touch our educational goals but now the comprehensive policies of the Punjab government are yielding positive results, he added. In order to improve literacy rate, all stake-holders will have to work with a missionary spirit, he said, adding private schools are playing a positive role in literacy promotion; however, a strategy is being evolved to monitor the performance of private schools.