LAHORE: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday announced the launch of `On-Wheel Montessori Schools` initiative and the province`s first-ever school transport service for public schools.

She made the announcements during a high-level meeting held to review the performance and future plans of the School Education Department (SED).

The CM also introduced two new recognition programmes the `School of the Month` award and the `Teacher of the Month` award.

She directed officials to start work on the mobile Montessori school project and expand the Nawaz Sharif Centers of Excellence programme from cur-rently serving 240 students to 1,500 students.

Provincial Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat presented achievements under the publicprivate partnership model. He said that enrollment at outsourced schools had increasedby99pe andteachingstaffhad increased by 114pc. He said the programme had created employment opportunities for over 60,000 educated youth while adding 1.3 million new students to the system in just 16 months.

Infrastructure improvements included renovation of 5,018 classrooms, roof repairs of 2,887 rooms and conversion of more than 50 schools to solar energy, he added.

The meeting also approved expansion of the `School Meal Program` to include Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Lodhran,Bhakkar, Mianwali and Bahawalnagar districts, with plans to supplement milk with energy bars and biscuits. The meetinghad also settargets ofconstruction of 10,000 early-childhood education classrooms, 6,000 STEM labs across the province, and 400 new toilet blocks in girls` schools.

The minister said that digital initiatives had also progressed with Google training programmes for teachers and students underway, and an English proficiency drive aiming to bring 300,000 students toIELTS Standard-4 conversational level within six months.

The CM emphasised that public schools must surpass private sector standards and directed for enhanced teachertrainingandstandardisedschool entrance process province-wide.