MARDAN: Provincial elementary and secondary education minister Atif Khan on Thursday said the PTI government was committed to promoting education and providing maximum sports facilities and opportunities to youths in the province.

He was addressing the participants of a sports complex groundbreaking ceremony at the new campus of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary E ducation Mardan here.

`The project will cost Rs334 million and will be successfully executed by October next year,` the minister said.

He said the residents of Mardan, Charsadda, Nowshera and Swabi districts would benefit from sports facilities on the new premises.

`There will cricket and football grounds, gymnasium, table tennis and badminton courts, and facilities for other sports at the sports complex, where competitions will be held in the morning among students of different government educational institutions,` he said.

The minister said sports competitions and opportunities would bring forward new talents.

He said the sports complex would have facilities of international standard and that the same facilities would gradually be extended to otherboardsofthe province.

Mr. Atif Khan said the PTI government was spending billions of rupees worth of funds for promotion of educational and sports activities.

He said youths of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were very talented and what they needed were opportunities in relevant Selds to exhibittheir talents.

The minister said Rs1 billion had been allocated for the development of Mardan as a modern and model city.

The ceremony was also addressed by PTI MNA Mujahid Khan, MPAs Zahid Khan Durrani, BISE Mardan chairman Mushtaq Ahmad and others. Correspondent