The opposition benches in the Punjab Assembly remained almost empty due to the prime minister’s appearance in the Supreme Court on Thursday, while those present grilled the education minister over the issue of laptops.
The session started with a delay of one and half hour and also offered dua for Arfa Kareem, Peer Pagara and journalist Mukaram Khan. In the Question Hour, Punjab Education Minister Mujtaba Shuja ur Rehman responded to the questions regarding the Education Department. The PA criticised the bureaucracy for not responding to the questions raised by the members. Of the 33 questions relating to school education, 12 important questions were still to be answered. Majority of the unanswered questions were filed more than three years ago and these questions were not difficult but the Education Department had failed to answer them. A question relating to primary schools was submitted in December 2008 and was yet to be taken up, the members pointed out.
The members demanded of Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal to take strict action over the lethargic attitude of the Education Department. The speaker took the education minister to task and asked him to initiate an enquiry or the assembly would take direct action against the authorities concerned.
Majority of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) members, including Raja Riaz and Shaukat Basra, were absent. The issue of laptop distribution by the Punjab government was also raised in the assembly. PML-Q member Khadija Umar said Punjab government had allocated millions of rupees for distributing laptops but had ignored the schools and laboratories of the province. She said hundreds of provincial schools were without science labs and the government, instead of providing funds for the labs, had spent million of rupees on laptops to win votes for next elections. Punjab Education Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman while defending the move said the laptops were being distributed to promote information technology in the university students. He said the government would allocate funds for schools in the next budget, adding that the next step would the distribution of ‘latest gadgets’ in schools.
PML-N MPA Naveed Anjum said it was astonishing that in 2009, 2.1 million students who had appeared in the primary and middle examinations were declared pass, adding that the problems in the grading systems need to be fixed.
During the session, the House stopped proceedings for half an hour due to Maghrib prayers. However, when assembly started proceedings again there was only one member in the House. PA Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal entered the House and saw only one MPA, Rana Iqbal, sitting on the bench. After a few minutes, the members started entering the House and proceedings started.
