Political progress: Consensus on economic corridor is a milestone, says CM

Shahbaz says Parho Punjab Barhro Punjab programme to provide quality education.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday the political consensus on the route of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor would yield great results.

“The national leadership has once again shown political wisdom. The project will prove a milestone in strengthening the national economy,” the chief minister said in a statement. He said the corridor projected the nation’s will. “It will create thousands of jobs.”

Relief for people

Sharif said the government had provided relief to citizens by reducing electricity tariff and petrol prices.



He was speaking to National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq who called on him.

The chief minister said the government had made progress on several national issues. He said efforts were underway to overcome energy crisis over the next three years.

Education

The Parho Punjab Barhro Punjab programme has been started to provide quality education across the province, the chief minister said. “Under the programme, every child will be enrolled by 2018. Targets have also been set to raise the standards of education,” he told a meeting that reviewed progress on the project.

Sharif said he believed that spending on education was an investment. He said the government would continue to provide funds for education but it wanted results from the authorities tasked with spending these. “Billions of rupees have been spent on education over the last seven years. It is just the beginning... a lot more is still to be done,” he said.

The chief minister favoured public-private partnership to meet targets set under the programme. He ordered that modern tools be implemented in the execution of the project.

The meeting decided that dilapidated school buildings would be repaired early. Sharif said Rs15 billion would be spent over a year on the repair and construction of school buildings. He warned the authorities against a compromise on the quality of construction. He formed a provincial steering committee to monitor the repair and construction works. Such committees, he said, were also being established at the district level.

The chief minister also ordered a survey of buildings of private schools across the province. He called for the annual inspection of the buildings following mapping of private schools. Minister for Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed, the chief secretary, the Planning and Development Board chairman and the school education secretary attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 30^th, 2015.