RAWALPINDI: More than 15,000 students have enrolled in 100 centres established in Rawalpindi district for the new Matric-Tech Scheme under which technical education would be imparted to them from 9th grade in the academic session 2025-26.

Punjab government has introduced new subject groups for the matriculation students from the new academic session in the province and gave choices to the students to select subjects other than science and art groups.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Hassan Waqar Cheema, who is chairman of District Education Authority, told Dawn that 100 centres had been established in the district to impart technical education from Secondary School Certificate (SSC) level so the students will excel in the technical field.

He said that total 15,079 students had been enrolled in these centres. He said that 59 centres were established in Rawalpindi, 11 in Taxila, 13 in Gujar Khan, eight in Kallar Syedan, two in Kotli Sattian, four in Murree, and three in Kahuta.

`Total number of students enrolled in matric tech included 7035 in IT, 3367 in fashion designing, 3071 in health sciences and 1606 in agriculture.` He said that the four new subjects were: Information Technology, fashion designing, health sciences and agriculture.

`As per vision of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, District Education Authority is working to improve the education sector so each and every child will get quality education from the government institutions and young generation will use their education in the practical fields.

He said that this initiative was aimed to align the curdculum with international standards and offer students more practical and careeroHented options. He said, `We would encourage the students to get admission in these new subjects as it will help them choose their fields in future like science and commerce.

He said that Punjab government wanted to provide maximum facilities to the every child to get education by their choice. These subjects have been added to expand the linkages between academia and the industry.

District Education Authority Chief Executive Officer Amaanullah said that in the new academic session, classes for IT and fashion designing would be started.He said that students will also be imparted practical education with 35 marks allocated for theory and 40 for practicals.

He said that more than 80 per cent students got admission in IT and 14 per cent in Fashion Designing and six per cent in health sciences and agriculture. He said that at present, no recruitment has been made for these subjects, adding, `We gave training to the existing staff for the new curriculum.

He said that there were teachers for IT and fashion designing. `We will train our current staff to meet the demands of these new subjects,` he said, adding that total marks for matriculation examinations will remain 1,100 and the new subjects had been integrated within the existing framework. Aamir Yasin