PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Education Faisal Khan Tarakai here on Monday announced launch of several multi-purpose public welfare projectsin education sectorin the upcoming fiscal.

Addressing an Annual Development Programme (ADP) review meeting, he said that education budget would be significantly increased and long-term planning was put in place to benefit all students across the province.

The minister said that 70 per cent of the newly-established schools would bereserved for girl students and 30 per cent for boys under a new education plan. He added that efforts would be made to reduce the number of out-ofschool children and provide quality education to already enrolled students.

He said that Rs326 billion had been allocated to education department in the current fiscal and utilisation of funds was satisfactory.

He said that of 99 ongoing projects, 96 were locally funded. He instructed officials to prioritise funding for projects nearing completion and finalise PC-1 for initiation of new plans.

The meeting was attended by Education Secretary Masood Ahmed, Special Secretary Qaiser Alam, Adviser to Chief Minister Mian Saaduddin, Education Director Naheed Anjum and other senior officials.The minister directed the team of human capital investment project (HCIP) to ensure that the benefits of scheme were immediately delivered to people.

He ordered use of highquality construction material and asked for a comprehensive plan to be presented promptly.

Highlighting 17 new initiatives for the year, he mentioned the provision of free textbooks and school bags to students, establishment of a girls cadet college in Ders Ismail Khan, solarisation of schools, development of model schools and rented building schools programme for primary, middle and high levels.

The minister said that construction work of Girls Cadet College Mardan should be completed before the start of new academic session in September and the collegeshould be shifted to its new building.

He also called for swift completion and activation of ERRA schools and directed that each school should be visited by monitoring and evaluation section to prepare detailed reports, including a comprehensive strategy for their completion.

He ordered profiling of all schools in tribal districts, assessing how many were affected by terrorism and identifying those without proper buildings. A detailed report with proposals must be submitted, he said.

The minister said that education was a top priority of government. The recruitment and training of teachers and provision of high-quality free education facilities to students remained key objectives, he added.

Planned initiatives for thenew fiscal include establishment of 50 girl schools, creation of 100 new primary schools, upgradation of 150 schools to nextlevel, construction of 80 primary schools in tribal districts, rehabilitation of 200 schools, construction of 500 additional classrooms and renovation of 300 schools.

Besides, provision of science equipment to 300 schools, construction of 1000 early childhood education rooms, construction of 50 examination halls in high and higher secondary schools and provision of various facilities to 200 girl schools are also included in the new projects.

In addition, the governance component will include establishment of offices for district education and education monitoring authorities in both settled and tribal districts as well as a comprehensive survey of out-of-school children. APP