K-P public colleges to offer free education

One year pilot project being launched under Taleem Card initiative

PESHAWAR:

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has announced free-of-cost education for public sector college students for one year as pilot project under Insaf Taleem Card.

In a statement about the Taleem Card, Chief Minister Mahmood Khan said that the provincial government has undertaken well-organized steps to align the education sector with contemporary needs and to ensure equal access of students to quality education.

He added that education card’s launch for the current academic year is a continuation of those efforts under which tuition fee of students is being waived in all government colleges.

In his statement issued here from the Chief Minister Secretariat on Thursday, the CM termed the taleem card a unique project of the provincial government which will prove to be an encouraging initiative in promoting higher education in the province. The scheme is expected to benefit 244,000 students enrolled in government colleges throughout the province.

The scheme includes waiver of the entire tuition fee and will cost approximately Rs1 billion to the provincial exchequer.

The chief minister observed that investment in human capital is of paramount importance and is one of the pivotal agendas of the incumbent government, adding that visible steps have been taken in this regard to ensure promotion of higher education in the province.

The chief minister reiterated that the reforms and initiatives of the provincial government have started yielding positive results and public trust in government educational institutions has been restored.

Khan said that a number of steps have been taken to ensure that education institutions in the province are made fully functional.

In this regard, 76 colleges have been upgraded whereas 37 new colleges have been established in the province to provide uniform access to educational opportunities.

The establishment of Pak-Austria Fachhochshule Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology at Haripur is another milestone achieved by the provincial government towards promotion of education in the sector of applied sciences as per contemporary needs.

Similarly, he said, the establishment of university campuses in various districts of the province has also ensured greater access to higher educational facilities, adding that Rs8 billion have been allocated in the budget of current fiscal year for various developmental projects in the higher education sector.

Some of the development activities included renovation and rehabilitation works in colleges, establishment of new colleges, strengthening of universities, promotion of commerce and management sciences, provision of scholarships and stipends, establishment of new universities and strengthening of public libraries etc.

These schemes have been finalized keeping in view the differential needs. Once completed, it will ensure that a majority of the issues faced by parents and students are addressed, Khan said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2022.