‘Govt aims to slash teacher-student ratio’

Education minister says 3.1m children enrolled as result of primary campaign.

LAHORE:

The teacher-student ratio in the Punjab is 31 to one currently but the government hopes to recruit more teachers and bring the ratio down to 29 to one, Education Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman said on Saturday while talking to a delegation of students.

There are currently 108,000 schools in the province, a handout issued by his office said. He told the delegation that Rs4 billion will be spent on providing necessary facilities in primary and middle schools, adding that another Rs 5.2 million will be spent on the upgrade of girls’ middle schools in the province.

About 262,500 students aged between 4 and 15 are getting education at non-formal basic education schools, he said.

Rehman said that all government schools had been made English medium schools in 2011. The government had launched a campaign to encourage enrolment in primary schools, he said, as a result of which 3.1 million children have been enrolled.

The education minister told the students that a curriculum authority would soon be established in the province.

Commending the role of private institutions in promoting education, he said the government is extending its cooperation and assistance to the private sector.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2012.