Every child in Punjab to be enrolled in school by 2018: Shahbaz

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif formally launched the new phase of Schools Reforms Roadmap ‘Parho Punjab—Barho Punjab’ here on Monday, under which a target to enrol every child of the province by 2018 has been set.
On the occasion, the CM announced to adopt a school in the rural area of Lahore and said he would not only supervise the affairs of the school but would also visit the school from time to time. He said provincial ministers, chief secretary, administrative secretaries, heads of different departments, commissioners, RPOs, DCOs and DPOs of the province would each also adopt a school.
The chief minister formally inaugurated the enrollment campaign for the year 2015-16 by signing the admission forms of two children and giving them textbooks, bags and stationery at the event held at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal.
He said March 30 was important for bringing a revolution in the education sector as on this day a commitment would have to be made that no effort would be spared for achieving the education target for the year 2018 with hard work, honesty and dedication. He said the Punjab government had invested billions of rupees in the education sector during the last seven years; however, much was still to be done for uplifting the education sector.
He said it was a grave injustice that while the children of the elite benefited from the best educational facilities, provision of quality academic facilities to the poor was considered a waste of resources. He said 20 years ago, Pakistan was compared with India but now it was lagging far behind India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other countries and facing serious issues like terrorism, extremism and shortage of electricity. He said no effort would be spared to resolve these issues. He said additional subjects based on tolerance, love and brotherhood were being included in the syllabus of schools and seminaries, which would help curb extremism.