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October 08 , 2017

Shahbaz promises continuity in school reforms

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday said standardised education was a right of every child, which would be ensured at any cost and added that continuity would be ensured in implementation of school reforms.

He said enrolment from private to government schools had increased by 33 per cent and percentage of retention by 57 per cent but more work was needed to achieve the enrolment target.

The chief minister said considerable improvement had been recorded in the public health sector and all targets should be achieved to provide best possible facilities to the people.

Shahbaz expressed these views while chairing meetings held to review the progress made on schools and health reforms programmes.

Speaking on the occasion, DFID Managing Partner Sir Michael Barber said immense improvement had been noted in the enrolment and education quality as well as health sector under the leadership of Shahbaz Sharif. He said international institutions had praised efforts of the Punjab government in various fields and added that the Punjab Health Reforms Programme was being implemented swiftly.

DFID Pakistan Head Joanna Reed said the Punjab government had made remarkable progress in the education sector and the province was moving in the right direction. DFID would continue extending support to improve the education sector, she said and praised the chief minister for his leadership.

Shahbaz said the Punjab government had outsourced 4,300 schools under the private-public partnership, which increased enrolment and quality of education in these schools. The public-private partnership would be further extended, he added. The chief minister especially noted that education standard had improved due to the introduction of IT and enumerated various steps being taken by the government.

About the Punjab Health Reforms Programme, he said
immunisation percentage had reached 85 per cent and the ambulance service had benefitted the woman in rural areas, adding that the number of ambulances would be increased to 450 by January next year.

Shahbaz, presiding over another meeting, said Khidmat Centres – which are providing 17 different services under one roof – had so far been established and the state-of-the-art facilities would set up in districts.

Adviser to the CM Dr Umer Saif gave a detailed briefing on these centres and said a monitoring system had been made check their performance.

Separately, Shahbaz said the PML-N had an unshakeable belief in the finality of the prophethood, as Federal Law Minister Zahid Hamid called on him in the provincial capital.

Shahbaz thanked the law minister for restoring the oath regarding finality of prophethood to its original shape.

Meanwhile, the chief minister called for working on creating public awareness was required to cope with natural disasters and adopting modern ways and means to minimise the damage.

In his message on the National Disaster Awareness Day, he said encouraging results could be obtained by utilising latest technology and added that an effective response mechanism and trained human work force were needed to for disaster management.

Also on Saturday, Shahbaz congratulated filmmaker and director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for winning Emmy Award for her documentary ‘A Girl in River’.

He said the entire nation was proud of Chinoy – also an Oscar winner – and added that all Pakistani women should work like her in their respective field to ensure a developed and prosperous Pakistan.

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