The interim government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has approved a program to provide free education facilities to out-of-school children in private schools using government funds.
This initiative aims to increase the literacy rate and will initially cover the educational expenses of children in seven districts and six divisions who are unable to attend school due to the unavailability of government schools in their areas.
According to available documents, the government will provide financial support to private schools as follows: Rs1,000 per month for kindergarten students, Rs1,500 per month for students up to grade five, and Rs2,000 per month for students in grade eight who receive education under the project.
The project, known as the “Sabawan Schools Initiative program,” will encompass four schools in Mehmand and Khyber, three in Orakzai, two in Koram, and two in North Waziristan.
The managing director of education for tribal areas estimated the total cost of the project to be Rs80 million.
Caretaker CM Takes Swift Action to Ensure Free Textbooks for Students in Government Schools
Meanwhile, the Caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh, retired Justice Maqbool Baqar, expressed his frustration on Wednesday upon learning that a significant number of students in government schools of the province have not received free textbooks.
During the meeting of the school education and college departments, Justice Baqar chaired and received information that free textbooks have been provided to 80% of students in government schools. However, the remaining 20% were studying without textbooks due to a shortage of funds for printing.
The CM deemed this situation unacceptable and directed the Finance Secretary to release Rs1 billion to the school education department by the evening to clear the vendor’s dues for printing the remaining books. The Sindh government released the amount later in the evening.
Additionally, Justice Baqar instructed the secretary of colleges to establish a digital monitoring system to ensure teachers’ attendance and participation in educational activities. He expressed concern that many college teachers were not attending or conducting classes.
The CM also directed the education secretary to collect data on absentee lecturers and forward their cases to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for service terminations and the recovery of salaries received during their periods of absence.
The meeting also provided information about the colleges in the province, including the total enrollment, teaching and non-teaching staff, and details of scholarships awarded through the Sindh Educational Fund Trust.
The trust was reported to have invested Rs6.8 billion in the Endowment Fund, generating a profit of Rs918.126 million. More than 21,000 students benefited from
