The Punjab government allocated Rs 25,065 million on Saturday for the education sector of the province for the year 2012-13. This amount includes Rs 15,000 million for school education, Rs 6,650 million for higher education, Rs 700 million for special education and Rs 915 million for literacy and non-formal basic education.
The government focused especially on the institutions attended by female students and announced to set up new universities and allocated a big chunk of the education sector’s budget to provide facilities at institutions. The Lahore College for Women University was the only university educating females which was allotted land for setting up a sub-campus.
School education: 54 new schemes were introduced by the Punjab government in which 15 regular schemes while 36 were for the provision of missing facilities in 2, 000 primary schools. 50 percent of these schools educate girls. Three new blocks will also be constructed under the new schemes.
The government allocated Rs 14.5 million for the new scheme to modernise the education sector at the school level. In the new schemes, the government has given special priority to provide additional facilities to the schools of the Punjab and in this connection the government has focused on schools in the region of Rawalpindi and its adjacent districts. Around Rs 30 million were allocated for providing additional facilities at the Girl Guides’ building in Muree, while Rs 35 million were allocated for additional facilities for the Boy Scouts’ building in the same region.
The government also allocated Rs 360 million for the provisions of IT labs in various schools of the province, while Rs 500 million were also allocated for providing facilities at the newly constructed schools in Punjab.
With an amount of Rs 200 million, the government will introduce early childhood education in 1, 000 schools in Punjab to increase school enrollment rates.
The government also allocated Rs 98.910 million for internal merit scholarships in schools while it also allocated Rs 5 million for the establishment and rehabilitation of schools in congested localities in urban areas.
The Punjab government has allocated Rs 519 million for the establishment and improvement of girls’ middle schools, while around Rs 700 million were also allocated for the conversion of high and higher secondary schools into model schools with an enrolment of more than a thousand students from grades six to ten.
The main focus of the new schemes introduced in the budget was the provision of missing facilities in 2, 000 primary girl’s schools in Punjab. In this regard, the government also focused on schools in southern Punjab.
Higher Education: At the higher education level, the government introduced 13 new schemes while 234 old schemes were already under progress. The government allocated Rs 3.5 billion for the new schemes, under which, Rs 100 million will be spent on the establishment of a Technology University in Sialkot district, while Rs 10 million will be spent on the establishment of a knowledge city at Dera Rakh Chall in Lahore.
The government also allocated Rs 374 million for the allotment of land for the Lahore College Women University at Kala Shah Kaku while allocating Rs 10 million for the establishment of a Knowledge Park in Muridkay.
The Punjab government also allocated Rs 100 million for the construction of new colleges in the province while it allocated Rs 200 million for the provision of missing facilities in the existing colleges.
Rs 300.000 million will be spent on the construction of four women’s universities in the province while Rs 180 million was also allocated to support the universities in the province.
Special Education: The government allocated Rs 554 million for 11 new schemes for special education while three old schemes were also underway.
The government allocated Rs 70 million for the establishment of a government secondary school at Rawalpindi while it also allocated Rs 94.354 million for the construction of a special education centre at Muridkay.
The government also allocated Rs 49.377 for the construction of a special education sector at Sharqpur Sharif while it also allocated Rs 44 million for the installation of UPS and generators at the institutions of the province.
Rs 30 million were also allocated for the establishment of parks for disabled children’s institutions while Rs 15 million were allocated for mapping special children in a bid to provide inclusive education to them in the Bahawalpur district.
Literacy and non-formal basic education: The government also allocated Rs 848 million for three new literacy development schemes while five old schemes are also underway.
The government allocated Rs 2.2 billion to the Punjab accelerated functional and basic literacy project while Rs 188 million were announced for the block allocations for unfunded and fast moving schemes of the sector.
The government also allocated Rs 360 million for new initiatives in the literacy sector.
