
LAHORE: Chief Minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif has taken historic steps in the education sector, which has resulted in the successful outsourcing of more than 11,000 schools across the province.
This initiative has led to a significant increase in student enrollment, with a record 1.1 million out-of-school children enrolling in a short period of time, a first in the province’s history.
A high-level meeting chaired by the Chief Minister took important decisions regarding the improvement of educational infrastructure and facilities. A detailed briefing was given on the ongoing and proposed projects of school education.
Maryam Nawaz commended the Punjab Education Foundation for achieving the historic milestone of enrolling 1.1 million children and directed the School Management Councils to ensure the provision of necessary facilities within 90 days, using the allocated funds of Rs 10 billion.
He directed the construction of required classrooms in all schools within a year and ordered the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 580 dilapidated and 2770 dilapidated school buildings. The government has also set a target of providing English speaking training to 500,000 government school students through certified English trainers.
Furthermore, the scope of the school meal programme will be extended to other districts and tehsils based on the malnutrition rate of children. The Chief Minister announced the establishment of “Nawaz Sharif Schools of Eminence” for both boys and girls in each district which will be equipped with modern educational facilities including IT labs, science labs, libraries, smart boards and multi-purpose playgrounds.
In the next five years, 1,750 schools will be upgraded, out of which 250 will be upgraded for the next financial year. Plans for 300 new tech-ed schools in 10 tehsils of Punjab were also unveiled.
As part of the infrastructure expansion in outsourced schools, 195 classrooms were constructed, roofs of 397 rooms were repaired, 254,538 square feet of boundary walls were constructed, and 414 toilets and 1,543 water tanks were installed.
The meeting also reviewed the proposal to establish Nawaz Sharif Centers of Excellence for Early Childhood Education in all nine divisions of Punjab. Additional projects include construction of 4,327 boundary walls, 4,066 toilets, 8,488 furniture units and installation of 100 water filtration plants in various schools.
Maryam Nawaz stressed that improving children’s education is a top priority. He reiterated the importance of essential facilities like toilets in all schools and said that efforts are underway to install solar power systems to meet the energy needs of educational institutions.