LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the Punjab government has utilised billions of rupees on education sector and promotion of knowledge in the province.
He was addressing solar lamps distribution ceremony among students at the Engineering University Wednesday. A total of 25,000 solar lamps, on merit, will be distributed among the students of government schools and colleges of Lahore.
The chief minister said only Rs 10 billion was spent on the education sector during the former chief minister Ch Pervaiz Elahi’s tenure while millions of rupees were wasted on projection of ‘Parha Likha Punjab’ programme.
Contrary to this, Shahbaz said, the PML-N government spent Rs 111 billion on the uplift of education sector during the last five years. He said foundation of a revolution in education sector had been laid through distribution of laptops among merit scholars, solar lamps, educational scholarships and establishment of IT labs in more than four thousand schools of the province.
“Provision of resources for equipping the youth with modern education is not expenditure but a useful investment. Distribution of laptops and solar lamps among talented students is the result of their hard work,” the chief minister held.
He said the Punjab government had brought brightness to the talented students through distribution of solar lamps and it was now their responsibility to pay full attention to acquisition of knowledge. The CM said two lakh ten thousand solar panels were being given to students of the province under Khadim-e-Punjab Ujala Programme. He said it was a matter of happiness that the girl students were taking a lead over the boy students in obtaining laptops and solar panels.
“About 155,000 girl students while 9,500 boy students of government schools and colleges of Lahore have been declared eligible for solar lamps. Merit policy is being strictly implemented in Punjab and merit and transparency is being given top priority in all educational programmes,” the CM held.
He said that Pakistan could be transformed in accordance with the vision of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal through supremacy of law, justice and merit while the darkness of poverty, unemployment and price-hike can also be removed.
Provincial Minister for Education Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Special Assistants Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Vice Chancellor Engineering University, Members National and Provincial Assemblies, teachers, parents and a large number of boy and girl students were present on the occasion. The talented students were also presented guard of honour.