Rawalpindi schools get infrastructure boost

Over 180 new classrooms and 127 toilets built across 98 educational institutions

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi District Education Authority has carried out record development work in school classrooms over the past six months under the District Education Department.

In the first instalment, funds amounting to Rs189.135 million were released for the construction of additional classrooms, new toilets and boundary walls in 98 educational institutions across Rawalpindi district.

These include 15 higher secondary schools, 56 high schools, 18 elementary schools and nine primary schools.

An amount of Rs133 million was allocated for the construction of 180 new classrooms, while Rs155 million was transferred to the respective schools for the construction of 127 new toilets. The funds are being utilised in consultation with school councils, and construction work has already begun.

The authority also distributed Rs7 million as donations among flood-affected people in Muzaffargarh, Multan and Gujrat, along with the provision of warm blankets and quilts.

Under the School Teacher Internship (STI) Programme, 364 school teacher interns have been formally appointed, while the recruitment process for an additional 300 teachers is under way.

In the first phase of rationalisation, 564 teachers were transferred to address staff shortages, followed by the transfer of another 300 teachers in the second phase.

To recognise teachers' performance, 125 "Hero Teachers" were awarded. Best Performance Awards were also given to district education officers, deputy DEOs at the tehsil level, and one male and one female assistant education officer from each tehsil. Additionally, 13 tehsil coordinators from the secondary wing received awards.

Chief Executive Officer of the Education Authority Tariq Mahmood transferred clerical staff and Class-IV employees to improve office efficiency. Checklists for all categories of official files and cases were displayed for facilitation and awareness.

Formal budget approval orders were issued for 161 pending leave encashment cases of male and female employees and 38 family financial assistance cases for the families of deceased employees. A further 106 leave encashment cases and 33 financial assistance cases will be resolved in the near future.