Vision for the future: Education an investment, not expenditure

Chief minister inaugurates the e-learning programme.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Monday launched an e-learning programme making school textbooks available online to students of class IX and X.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony at the Arfa Kareem Software Technology Park, he said the scope of the programme would soon be extended to books for students of class VI, VIII and XII.

He said the government had provided billions of rupees for development of the education sector and promotion of information technology.

He said resources allocated for students were not an expenditure but useful investments into a prosperous future of the country.

He said e-learning was a part of a revolutionary programme started for promotion of information technology in the previous tenure of the government.

He said 10,000 laptops worth Rs8 billion had been distributed among top students. He said the government would provide tablets to students this year and the laptop scheme would be continued.



He said internet facilities had been provided to universities and colleges and IT labs set up in 4,500 high schools of the province at a cost of Rs5 billion in the previous era.

Shahbaz said an information technology university had been set up at the IT Tower where more than 300 students were being trained in software programming.

He said the government was planning to set up a new campus where thousands of students would be able to acquire modern education.

He said students would benefit from textbooks at their schools and homes through the e-learning programme.

He said the government would start a fuller e-library in the next phase.

Referring to the Punjab Education Endowment Fund, Shahbaz said that more than 50,000 students had been granted scholarships from this fund. He said the volume of the fund was expected to Rs20 billion in five years and thousands of children would be given scholarships.

He said loans worth Rs4 billion had been given through the Punjab Rozgar Fund and the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa government had expressed interest in adopting the programme. He said provincial government was ready to extend cooperation to KP government in this regard.

He said a million children were studying at private schools on fee vouchers provided by Punjab Education Foundation.

Shahbaz said the government was giving monthly stipends worth Rs10,000 to graduates under an internship programme being trained at private institutions.

He said the government had recruited 80,000 teachers during its last tenure. He said politicisation of teachers recruitment had destroyed the profession.

Minister for Education Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan and Information Technology Board Chairman Omer Saif also addressed the ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.