Policy approved for recruitment of 42,798 school teachers. PHOTO: INP
The meeting approved a number of important decisions including payscale upgrades for teachers of primary schools and a policy for recruitment of 42,798 new teachers. Speaking on the occasion, Sharif said recruitments should be carried out in a transparent manner in accordance with the procedure laid out by the National Testing Service.
He said recruitment of new teachers would help overcome shortage of teaching staff. He was told that recruitment of another 43,000 teachers was underway.
The meeting was told that 36,000 additional classrooms would be constructed in schools till 2018. Of these, construction of around 10,000 would be completed by provincial government and another 5,000 with support of the Department for International Development (DFID) this year. Power supply in 5,000 schools would soon be shifted to solar energy.
The meeting decided that the management of around 5,000 low performing schools failing to improve their performance by April 2017 would be shifted to public-private partnership programme.
Among other major decision was the launch of double shifts at schools having high enrollment rates. The chief minister said that a programme should be evolved immediately for launching evening classes in such schools.
Sharif directed the officials concerned to expand the scope of the Early Childhood Education Programme to southern districts on a priority basis.
The chief minister said the right to quality education would not be denied to any school-age child. He said the targets of education reforms programme would be achieved at all costs. He said that an e-learning programme would soon be started to impart education to children with the help of modern technology.
Sharif said teachers were among the most respected segments of the society and urged them to play their role in ensuring high quality education at public schools.
Sharif asked officials concerned to ensure 100 percent enrollment in schools by 2018. He said enrollment target for the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) had been fixed at 2.6 million.
He vowed that adequate resources would be provided to equip the young generation with high quality education.
Earlier, DFID special representative Sir Michael Barber gave a briefing on the pace of reforms programme. He praised the steps taken by the provincial government for the uplift of the education sector. He said that as a result of these measures there had been a substantial increase in enrolment at government schools.
Schools Education Minister Rana Mashhood, Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Engr Qamarul Islam, the chief secretary, secretaries of various departments, education experts and DFID representative Ben French were also present on the occasion.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2016.
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