TAXILA: The Punjab education department has decided to hand over seven primary schools in Taxila to a non-governmental organisation.

The provincial government has planned to improve the primary education sector to achieve the millennium development goals (MDG).

Primary schools with low enrollment and high dropout rates are being handed over to NGOs along with students andinfrastructure.

In Rawalpindi, the project has been initiated from the Taxila tehsil where four boys, two girls and one model primary schools located in the rural areas would be handed over to an NGO in the first phase. These schools include the government boys primary school Karamwal, boys primary school Pind Nowsheri, boys primary school Jallala, boys primary school Dhoke Awan, girls primary school Ghazi Kohli, girls primary school Mullpur and model primary school Sallargah.

`Intrusion into the education sector by NGOs under the banner of public-private partnership has worsened the education standards,` said President Punjab Teachers` Union Syed Sajjad Akbar.

He added: `The government must not hand over public schools to NGOs. The increasing role of the NGOs in the education sector has, in fact, brought down the literacy rate in some areas. Correspondent