Punjab’s education budget

Punjab Finance Minister Dr Ayesha Ghaus presented a Rs1681 billion  budget in the Punjab Assembly on June 13. Of this, Rs312.80 billion has been allocated for the education sector. Around Rs47 billion has been placed for the Higher Education Commission (HEC). New scholarships of Rs20 billion have been announced along with IT programmes. New teachers are to be hired for primary schools and Rs2 billion have been suggested for the Punjab Education Foundation. The development budget of school education has been increased from Rs33.0 billion in FY2015-16 to Rs47.7 billion in FY2016-17.

The current education budget is 58 percent of the total ADP allocated for current year while last year it was 77 percent of the total ADP. Looking at the overall budget,the provincial government has still not shown the intention to improve the education level in the province.

Arslan Muzamil

Rawalpindi