PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Atif Khan has said that large number of children who were not going to schools and those abandoning education after primary education was a matter of grave concern for the whole nation.
The matter, he said was a big challenge for the provincial government which has devised tangible policies towards this end that were giving encouraging results.
Talking as chief guest at inaugural ceremony of enrollment campaign at Shaheed Hasnain Sharif Higher Secondary School here on Friday, Atif Khan said it was the shared responsibility of the parents to send their children to schools to make them a useful part of the society.
The function besides others was also addressed by Mr Peter of British Council and Additional Secretary Education, Qasar Alam while Chair Peshawar Education Board Dr Muhammad Shafi, well known educationists, teachers, parents and large number of students were present.
The Minister said last year a target of 0.7 million children was set for enrollment which was successfully achieved while this year the target has been enhanced to 0.8 million and we hoped this target would also be achieved.
He said to realize the dream of a developed province we have to bring visible change in government-run schools where around 4 million children were acquiring education.
The government, he said was spending billions of rupees on provision of basic facilities in 29000 schools of the province and so far rupees 14 billion have been spent on provision of such facilities in around 15000 schools. He said rupees 12 billion have been spent on provision of furniture in schools which was a record.
The steps, he said has helped regain confidence of the people in public sector schools and now students from private schools enrolling themselves into government-run schools which was an encouraging sign for all of us.
To enhance quality of education he said the provincial government has employed 25000 new teachers purely on merit basis while 50000 teachers have been given training on modern teaching methods.
