Punjab Education Foundation: ‘Free education for out of school children in six years’

The project is in accordance with the Punjab’s socio-cultural norms, says PEF chairman.

LAHORE: The Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) will arrange free school education for out of school children in the province over the next six years, PEF Chairman Raja Anwar said on Sunday.

He was addressing a seven member delegation of heads of PEF partner schools at his residence.

He said the PEF’s project was part of the chief minister’s roadmap for education in the province. Anwar said the programme aimed to completely eradicate illiteracy and alleviate poverty by providing free quality education to all children who could not attend schools for various reasons.



The PEF chairman told the delegation that the foundation had devised a comprehensive “child-friendly” plan to bring out of school children back to school.

He said that the PEF was providing free education to 1.4 million poor and talented children through a network of more than 4,000 private partner schools in the Punjab.

Raja Anwar said the PEF’s model of public-private partnership had been a successful intervention as it was also in accordance with the socio-cultural norms of the province. “Our model has encouraged and promoted low-cost private schools in a number of ways including the training and development of teachers and improving management standards of private schools in the Punjab,” the PEF chairman added.

The delegation of heads of schools thanked the chairman and appreciated the government’s steps to improve the standard of private sector schools.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2013.