PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan has said that the provincial government had introduced reforms and development initiatives in the education sector keeping in view the market needs so as to promote entrepreneurship and enable our graduates to play their role in strengthening the national economy.
Owing to the needs based initiatives, the trust deficit between parents and public sector educational institutions has been bridged up significantly.
Mahmood Khan clarified that various steps have been taken, including establishment of educational institutions, recruitment of new teachers and lecturers, provision of free textbooks to students in schools, provision of scholarships and other similar steps, due to which the literacy rate in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has increased.
In a statement issued here from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Sunday, Mahmood Khan said that the provincial government is investing in human capital due to which education standards in the public sector educational institutions have improved significantly.
He said that during the period of last four years various steps have been taken in Elementary & Secondary Education sector including , establishment of Education Monitoring Authority, regularization of 58000 teachers, provision of free textbooks and school bags to 631,376 students, provision of scholarships to 2.1 million girls, establishment of 141 schools, upgradation of 174 schools, reconstruction of 89 schools, standardization of 90 schools, provision of furniture to 68141 units, construction of 400 additional class rooms, renovation of 1585 class rooms in public sector schools, establishment of cadet collages in South Waziristan and Mohmand districts, launching of second shift in public sector schools, hiring of around 3000 school leaders, and many more. Similarly, the provincial government has also taken a number of initiatives in the higher education sector. In the current ADP, 89 projects of higher education have been reflected which include 66 ongoing and 23 new schemes.
Some of the mentionable developments in higher education sector during the last four years include establishment of Pak-Austria Fachhochschule Institute, University of Shangla, Agriculture University Swat, Veterinary University, Institute of Criminology & Forensic Sciences, establishment of Technology Development Centre in University of Agriculture Peshawar, recruitment of 1900 new lecturers, launching of BS program in different colleges of the province etc.
The Chief Minister said that owing to the reforms initiatives and developmental strategy of the provincial government the education sector is being developed on modern lines so as to enable our graduates to play an effective role in national development.