‘Education is a right, not a privilege’

Minister addresses local concerns regarding health and education.

MULTAN: Provincial Minister for Auqaf Ahsanud Din Qureshi said that education and health were the main focus of the Punjab government and that huge sums were being spent to ensure that people in the districts of Punjab received a world class education.

“We are working to ensure that education is no longer just for the privileged, it is a right of all. Soon boys in Mian Channu and Dera Ghazi Khan will have access to the same standard of schooling as Lahore,” he said.

He praised the launch of Danish Schools and termed their establishment necessary to bridge the existing gap between the poor and the rich in society. “These schools are serving children that would otherwise be deprived of an education,” he said.

“I assure you that children of the poor will also benefit from higher standards of education,” he said, adding that the provincial government was currently interviewing teachers for the Danish schools.

The minister said that the Punjab government was working to improve living conditions in all of Punjab’s districts, adding “the provision of free medicines at emergency wards in all hospitals is proof of our concern.”

Qureshi gave polio drops to a child in time for the polio campaign to be launched in the city from November 8.

Acknowledging the recent campaign of the Health Department against polio and dengue, the provincial minister hoped that the entire region would be declared free of contagious diseases by the end of this year. Meanwhile, a delegation of lady health visitors and lady health supervisors (LBS) met with the provincial minister and invited his attention to their promotion and pay scales.

The provincial minister assured them their grievances would be redressed. Executive District Officer Zafar-ul-Islam, Dr Shahid Magasi, Dr Fahim. Dr Munawar Abbas, Dr Abid Hussain and Dr Attaur Rehman were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 7^th, 2010.