Islamabad - Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif yesterday unveiled plans to comprehensively overhaul the capital’s government schools and colleges and upgrade teacher training.
More than 440 schools and colleges will benefit from new science and IT laboratories, libraries and a fleet of 200 extra buses. New toilets and clean drinking water will also be provided along with better classrooms and sports facilities. Work on the first 21 campuses will be completed next month and the remainder within ten months.
The initiative addresses widespread concern about dilapidated buildings and low teaching standards in government schools and colleges, particularly those in the capital’s suburbs.
The prime minister launched his programme on Friday morning on the outskirts of the capital where he announced the up-gradation of Government Model School Punjgran to college status.
The announcement was derided by opposition parties, however, as a gimmick to boost support for the ruling PML-N in and around Islamabad.
“The education reforms package will fall flat like the relief packages for farmers,” said Awami Muslim League chief Sh Rashid Ahmad.
The multi-million rupee programme was developed by Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister’s daughter, who accompanied him at the launch following a recent inspection tour of school facilities in and around Islamabad.
On Thursday she published a series of photographs showcasing improvements made at 21 schools where refurbishment is already underway and due for completion on January 15th. They highlighted run-down buildings before the work began and smart new classrooms and manicured grounds after. “[The] future of our generations [is] to become bright as [the] prime minister brings educational reforms for Roshan Pakistan,” Maryam Nawaz declared a day before the launch.
The plans were welcomed by teachers and college lecturers in the capital. Professor Zafarullah Khan of Islamabad Model College said he hoped its implementation would bring a marked improvement in suburban schools which are in extremely bad shape.
Sharif later told teachers and students at Government Model School Punjgran that his government would provide the maximum possible funds to offer children and students quality education.
“I want to see all these schools and colleges equipped with state of the art facilities... I want to see each and every kid in the capital territory enrolled in school,” he said.
He said schools and colleges in federal capital should be a model for the rest of the country and asked the provincial governments to mirror its investment.
He said a computerised system would monitor all educational institutions in the federal capital, while biometric systems would ensure attendance of the staff. “All new appointments of teachers would strictly be made on merit alone, and no undue recommendations or influence will be entertained,” he vowed.
Under the prime minister’s scheme all the 442 schools and colleges in the federal capital territory will be renovated over the next six months, said Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, state minister for the Capital Administration and Development Division. Besides refurbishing the infrastructure, the programme also includes refresher courses for teachers. Foreign scholarships will be offered to the most promising young teachers, he added.