In an important move that would help enhance the quality of higher education in Punjab, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif allows the affiliation of 36 commerce colleges of 29 districts with 19 government universities in a top-level meeting held in Lahore on Friday. The initiative will ensure that students get quality education facilities within easy reach.
New IT Labs and Free Google Courses Boost Higher Education
The chief minister also green-lights the construction of state-of-the-art IT labs in 166 government colleges. Moreover, she decides to offer free Google certification courses to more than 100,000 students. These are in fields such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and business intelligence. These three- to six-month programmes will cost nothing for students. This saves them hefty fees that normally range from 400 to 1,000 dollars. As a result, young learners across Punjab will gain valuable skills. These open doors to better job opportunities.
Scholarships and Laptop Scheme Target Meritorious and Special Students
In the same meeting, scholarships worth millions are also awarded to 30,000 meritorious students. The second phase of the initiative alone will cover 4,310 students from 200 institutions with Rs194 million. Apart from that, another 25,000 graduate students will also be provided assistance under this program. Moreover, the CM Punjab Laptop Program enters its second phase. This phase covers visually challenged and special students as well. More than 142,000 applications have been received already for this program.
The Chief Minister says he is pleased to note the excellent results of the girls’ students in the recently concluded Grade 8 examination. Their success rate was a whopping 92 percent. All this goes to show that the Provincial Government is seriously concerned about quality education for all.
