Report sought onsingle-teacher schools

LAHORE: Punjab School Education Minister Rana Sikandar Hayat on Tuesday chaired a meeting of Punjab Education Initiative Management Authority (PEIMA) to review its overall performance, including schools managed by NGOs.

The minister was briefed that PEIMA operates 4,276 government schools in partnership with private institutions under a public-private partnership, with an effective system for student verification. He also requested a report on single-teacher schools and hinted at formulating a policy to address teacher shortage issue. He expressed satisfaction with educational initiatives, particularly in South and Central Punjab. He noted that areas with such initiatives still face challenges, evidenced by the high number of out-of-school children. He emphasised the necessity of addressing this challenge by increasing enrolment and improving education quality. He stressed the creation of more models to tackle this issue effectively. He emphasised the importance of enhancing teacher training and teaching quality, directing the formulation of an action plan to provide one-time meals to students in government educational institutions.

2.6m students avail free education facility in PEF schools

Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat visited the PEF head office here Tuesday to review the progress and initiatives of the foundation.

During the visit, Managing Director of PEF, Shahid Farid, provided a comprehensive briefing on the various educational projects undertaken by the foundation. Highlighting the impact of PEF's public-private partnership model, Shahid Farid informed that 2.6 million students were currently benefiting from free and quality education across more than 7,000 partner schools in Punjab.

He emphasised PEF's ongoing efforts to address the issue of out-of-school children in the province through targeted campaigns and the implementation of the new admission policy for the academic year 2024-25, aimed at enrolling more underprivileged children into PEF schools. Expressing concern over the insufficient fees received by PEF affiliated schools after nine years, Shahid Farid urged the minister to consider increasing the funds allocated to PEF.