LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said like in 2015, provision of quality education and health facilities will continue to be top priority of the government in 2016 and there will be no shortage of resources for this purpose.

He said the provincial government had provided funds of billions of rupees for extending modern health and educational facilities to the masses, says a handout.

He was speaking to parliamentarians of the party here on Friday. He said provision of basic facilities in schools was being ensured under a reforms programme and measures had been taken for ensuring attendance of teachers and students.

He said education was not only a weapon against terrorism, extremism and sectarianism but also the secret of progress and development. He said funds spent on promotion of education were not expenditure but useful investment in the future of the country.

The chief minister said setting up of the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund, Daanish School System, scholarships for talented students, educational programme of the Punjab Education Foundation and the study tours of positionholders to international educational institutions were revolutionary measures of the Punjab government. He said an important element of theseeducational programmes was that besides Punjab, students of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, GilgitBaltistan, Azad Kashmir and Federal Board had also been included in these projects which is promoting national unity and brotherhood.

He said the talented children of poor families were getting education through the endowment fund and Daanish School System.

He said the health sector was also among the priorities of the government and maximum resources were being provided for extending facilities to the masses. He said work was in progress on Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute and Research Center, while a modern 60-bed hospital had been inaugurated on Bedian Road. Similarly, quality healthcare is available to the people of south Punjab at Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital of Muzaffargarh.

The parliamentarians lauded the chief minister`s efforts in improving education and health facilities.

Also, Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board chairman Lt Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat met the chief minister and they discussed several issues. The chief minister paid tributes to the successes and courageous role of army in the war against terrorism. He said that compared to 2013, Pakistan today is safer, developed, peacefuland prosperous.