76% govt schools have 100% basic facilities

Provincial govt pumping over Rs30b to upgrade rest of the schools

PESHAWAR: Almost 76% of the schools across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) have been provided with 100% basic facilities and the rest is in progress with a record investment of Rs30 billion.

According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elementary and Secondary Education Department (KPESED) data, more than 16,000 schools in the province have been provided boundary walls. Nearly 20,000 toilets have been built and more than 15,000 have been provided with clean drinking water.

This development will hugely impact the enrolment levels. K-P E&SED is also focused on the solarisation of government schools in the province so as to ensure an uninterrupted power supply to the schools. Solarisation has been completed in nearly 6,000 schools.



Similarly, since 2013, the Government of K-P has spent more than Rs5 billion on the provision of furniture to government schools, reflecting its commitment to provide students with an environment conducive to learning. In 2013, most schools across the province had no furniture or it was substandard. Since then more than 1.5 million children sit in chairs in school instead of the floor.

Nearly 10,000 play areas have been established at primary schools across the province under a new education policy. The government has established play areas at government schools to ensure a healthy environment at these institutes and give priority to quality education.

All public sector schools in the province would be provided with basic and missing facilities until June 2018 while shortage of teaching staff would also be overcome said Elementary and Secondary Education Department Senior Planning Officer Hashmat.



He said number of higher secondary schools have increased from 308 to 622 since 2013. As per new policy primary schools must have at least six rooms instead two.

Parents have a greater comfort level when sending their kids to school in K-P. A record number of 161,000 students transferred from private to government schools during 2016-2017. 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2018.