USAID has signed an 'implementation letter' with Punjab, to promote education in five backward districts of South Punjab. Making the agreement with the provincial government as part of the new US policy of working with the provincial governments in Pakistan, USAID will provide a grant of $148 million for promoting education in D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Multan, Khanewal and Bahawalpur districts by providing missing facilities in them, teachers' training and reconstruction of schools destroyed by the floods. This is also the highest grant made by USAID to a single project in a single country. It is also the largest USAID grant made for education. Education cannot take a backseat, and it is only to the credit of any government, not just that of Punjab, that funds are spent on education, but the present government, under Mian Shahbaz Sharif, has made special efforts, and the floods can be viewed as not much more than a punctuation mark in people's desire for their children to have a better future. Though the floods naturally affected attendances, they quickly recovered, as people recalled the importance of education. However, now comes the difficult task of rehabilitating the schools as well as the children, and though the aid was asked for because South Punjab needed the funding, now that the floods have made that need even greater, the funding has become more welcome. The USA too should realise that spending its taxpayers' money in ways that help Pakistan meet its needs would help it win hearts and minds, and would be more effective than its spending on military ventures. It should also heed the need, mentioned at the signing ceremony, to meet the needs of Muzaffargarh which was also a flood-affected South Punjab district, but which had not been included in the project. If the American process is too long, or begrudging, the Punjab government must make available the funding, which is an essential for the district.