RAWALPINDI  – Position Holder boy students of Matriculation Examination 2012 (Annual) from all education boards of Punjab were presented Guard of Honour by a smart contingent of police in Punjab House Murree. The students reached there on a three-day recreational and study visit of Murree on the invitation of Chief Minister Punjab, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif.
Total 48 position holder boy students attended the guard of honour ceremony.
Punjab Minister for Education, Excise and Taxation, Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman represented Chief Minister Punjab, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on this occasion.
Director General (Protocol) Asjad Ghani, Protocol Officer Nadia Awan, Assistant Commissioner, Manzoor Ahmed Chandio, SP Murree and other officers of the administration were also present on this occasion. Position holder students will visit Patriata, Bhurban, Government House, Murree and other important picnic spots in Murree and adjoining areas besides having a ride on chair lift and soft wheel train during their three-day stay in hill town.
They would be accorded protocol of State Guest during their stay and the objective of presenting Guard of Honour and status of state guest is to encourage the students and acknowledge their talent and high achievements.
Punjab Minister for Education Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman while addressing on the occasion said the promotion of education is essential and vital for eradication of ignorance and poverty. He said that for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif adopted the policy of merit and took unprecedented steps for promotion of education.
He said the objective of presenting Guard of Honour to position holder students is to encourage them and acknowledge their talent and high achievements.
The minister said the Position Holder students in matriculation & intermediate examinations of the boards are awarded cash prizes. They are offered recreational trip of Murree and laptops are being distributed among all such students with a view to encourage them and promote an atmosphere of competition among students for acquiring education.
He further said that position holder students are also offered foreign trips to provide them opportunities of visiting various world famous universities. Similarly, 40,000 students have been provided scholarships for higher education in national and international universities under Punjab Endowment Education Fund, he added.
Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that Chief Minister Punjab took solid steps for the promotion of education. He congratulated position holder students on their success and high achievements in Matriculation Examination 2012.  The position holder students while expressing their impressions on this occasion said that they were highly delighted on the visit of the hill town and presenting guard of honour on this occasion. They said that they had been inspired with encouraging gesture of Punjab Government and they pledged that they would further do hard work for acquiring knowledge and showing further shining results in their future academic career.