Private campuses lauded

LAHORE
Punjab Excise and Taxation Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman has said that the government has given top priority to health and education and the Punjab health and education budget has been remarkably increased and additional resources have been provided to accelerate the efforts for prompt achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
According to a handout issued on Sunday, the minister while talking to various delegations at his residence said 95pc of discretionary funds are being used for the treatment of under privileged people as well as for grant in aid to the poor. He said the budget allocated for education Rs 310.20 billion which is 27 percent of total expenditures whereas the budget allocated for health Rs 166.13 billon which is 14 percent of total expenditures of the government. He said private educational institutions are playing a pivotal role in providing quality education and government highly appreciates the services of private sector for the enhancement of literacy rate whereas NGOs are also playing effective role in providing education to the resource-less children. He said Punjab School Reforms Roadmap is yielding positive results for uplift of education sector and enrollment of every child of the province will be ensured by the end of 2018.
The minister said improvement of education is the priority of government and computer labs will be established in 990 high schools, missing facilities will be provided in 7,500 schools, buildings of 4727 schools would be re-constructed, 24,500 additional rooms will be constructed in the schools and 500 new schools will be opened. He said new targets have been set under Punjab School Reforms Roadmap and the 18-point new roadmap will have to be implemented in letter and spirit for achieving all these targets till 2018. The minister said provision of the education is constitutional obligation of the government, but the government cannot do this duty alone, and requires the support of private sector in this regard. It is encouraging that Private Schools are providing standardised education and presence of quality school is a healthy sign for the education system of the country. He said that scholarships of 12 billion rupees are being provided to more than 50 thousand students within the country and abroad from Endowment fund and students of private education institutions are also benefiting from this fund.