Education for all: Govt to overhaul facilities at 1,500 schools

High-ranking officials will visit schools in south Punjab to deliver lectures and motivational speeches

DERA GHAZI KHAN: The provincial government will collaborate with non-government organisations (NGOs) to provide facilities to 1,500 public schools in Dera Ghazi Khan division, a speaker at a seminar said on Wednesday.

The event was organised by National Commission for Human Development in collaboration with the Education Department. Dera Ghazi Khan Commissioner Muhammad Saqib Aziz inaugurated the seminar.

Speakers at the seminar said that the government had taken several steps to improve literacy in south Punjab. They said the government had strengthened its accountability measures and several incompetent teachers had been dismissed. They said several teachers had been rewarded with scale promotions for their efforts.

Commissioner Aziz said that the government was committed to improving the education sector. “Government officials have adopted schools on the directions of the chief minister,” he said.

“They have been regularly visiting these schools and delivering lectures.”

The commissioner appreciated the government’s steps to strengthen the security around schools in the province.

“There is currently a lack of teachers in many schools and we are trying to resolve this problem as soon as possible.”

He said the provincial government had selected 402 schools in the area where high-ranking government officials would deliver lectures.

The National Commission for Human Development would collaborate with the government in reconstructing 373 school buildings that are in a dilapidated state, he added.

He said tenders for 55 schools had been issued for rehabilitation.

The commissioner said such seminars and lectures would increase school enrolment and prevent students from dropping out.

Several district officers from Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur were given shields for their lectures at primary schools.

NCHD Operations Director Brigadier (r) Abdul Basit Rana, Additional School Education Secretary Mirza Mahmoodul Hassan and Public Instructors Director Malik Riaz Hussain Goraia also attended the seminar.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2015.