ISLAMABAD: Minis ter for Feder al E ducation Shafgat Mehmood said on Monday that the government is working to launch a uniform education system.

Speaking at the launch of the Goal programme, Standard Chartered Bank`s leading education programme, Mr Mehmood said efforts to set up a uniform education system and curriculum are afoot.

He said a major portion of students have been studying in public sector schools and seminaries, and will be given equal opportunity to excel.

He said the government is also focusing on the sports sector, and the PTI government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has established 47 new grounds.

Standard Chartered Bank has launched its Goal programme in collaboration with Right to Play.

Together, both entities will implement sports and life skills training to empower young girls and equip them with confidence, knowledge and skills they need to be integral economic leaders in their families, communities and society.

According to the organisers, the programme was launched in Karachi in 2016 and has since then benefited more than 11,000 adolescent girls.

The organisers said several studies have shown that investment in girls positively affects GDP growth rates.

`A World Bank study in 1999 demonstrates that increasing the secondary education of girls by 1pc results in an annual income increase of 0.3pc per capita.

`Educating girls and giving them the tools to shape their own future has an incredible multiplier effect on economic growth.

`It leads to increased prosperity not just for individuals but for their communities and their societies. It provides returns for decades,` a statement said.