MULTAN, Dec 14: The district government has set a target of bringing the literacy rate to 60 per cent within next three years.

This was stated by district Nazim Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a meeting with the experts of master donor support unit of the world bank here on Thursday.

Heads of various government departments were also present on the occasion.

The Nazim told the participants that the local government had setup targets in education, health, water supply and sanitation to improve the living standards of the people. He hoped that the government would be able to achieve its targets with the assistance of the support unit.

He pointed out that education and health sectors had been suffering due to lack of proper supervisory system. The government was making efforts to reopen some 92 schools with the cooperation of the NGOs and private sector, he added.

He maintained teachers would be recruited on contract basis to serve in the remote areas of the district while the vacant posts of the heads of schools in various areas would be filled by elevating senior teachers to the posts.

The Nazim expressed his concern over the insufficient number of girls’ schools in the district. He said there were only 32 high schools for as many as 42,000 girls in the district while 99 secondary schools for 69,000 boys. He vowed to cure the disparity.

To improve health facilities in the district, the Civil Hospital would be made more equipped while the THQ Hospital would be setup in Jalalpur Pirwala, he concluded.