Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that education is the only key to attain the goal of development and self- reliance and getting rid of the problems.
He said the trends of extremism can be overcome through promotion of quality education. He said the nations investing on education have made rapid progress. He said keeping in view the importance of education, the Punjab government has made promotion of education its top priority. The chief minister said that resources of billions of rupees are being spent on the programmes of equipping the new generation with education. He said that provision of resources for promotion of education is a useful investment for the bright future of the nation. He said that there will be no shortage of resources for the promotion of quality education. Sharif said that more than one hundreds of thousands of talented male and female students are getting education in prestigious educational institutions through Punjab Educational Endowment Fund. He said that the unique and unprecedented programme of provision of educational scholarships of country’s history has provided opportunities of quality education to the intelligent boy and girl students. He said that laptops worth billions of rupees have been distributed among youth on merit. He said that mutual brotherhood and inter-provincial contacts are promoting with the participation of male and female students of all units of Pakistan in the educational programmes of the Punjab government.
He expressed these views while talking to a delegation of PML-N here on Sunday. The chief minister said that quality education is being provided to the children of backward areas through Daanish School System. He said that free quality education is being provided to talented children of poorest families in Daanish schools. He said that setting up of Daanish schools in backward areas is a glorious example of spending resources on poor people. He said the Punjab government has provided education by setting up modern Daanish schools in under-developed areas.
Sharif said those criticizing Daanish schools do not want that the children of poor families should get quality education. He said that like children of elite, children of poor families have equal right over quality education. He said that like other sectors, former rulers of Punjab during dictatorial era, committed loot and plunder in the name of education. He said that the education sector was ruined through spreading darkness of ignorance in the name of Parha Likha Punjab, nepotism and corruption was promoted and merit was violated. He said that besides looting national resources, loans of billions of rupees were also got written off on political basis during dictatorial era.
The chief minister said that the Punjab government has converted graveyards of corruption of former rulers into minarets of development whereas former rulers, instead of paying attention to the completion of development projects, filled their own pockets. He said that the nation has conducted strict accountability of those who looted the hard earned money of the poor nation in the name of development projects in general elections of 2013 and local bodies’ elections through its power of vote. Sharif said that a handful of opponents of public welfare projects are enemy of development of Pakistan. He vowed that the projects of development and prosperity of the people will continue. He said that Punjab Government is marching the forward for promotion of education under “Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab” and the target of provision of quality education and enrolment of every child of Punjab in school by 2018 has to be achieved at all costs.
The chief minister said that quality education is the right of every child of the province and he will not rest content till provision of this right. He said that achievement of targets fixed under “Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab” will bring a revolution in education sector. Sharif said that the work of construction and rehabilitation of dilapidated buildings of schools is being carried out on priority basis. He said the Punjab government has invested billions of rupees in education sector during last eight years and funds will also be provided in future in this regard.