July 17, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 6, 1423

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FAISALABAD, July 16: Governor Khalid Maqbool said on Tuesday a comprehensive plan had been chalked out to revamp the education system.

Speaking at a function in the Government College for Women, Karkhana Bazaar, the governor said under the present education system we could only produce ‘Baboos’ who could not contribute in any way in society.

“There is a dire need to produce fully-groomed and skilled students in the field of exports, imports, textile, designing, biotechnology, science, veterinary, physics, dental surgery and other professions so as to put the country on the road to progress and prosperity,” he said.

He said a plan had already been chalked out for the training of teachers under which they would be imparted education of various professions, including information technology, biology and computer science.

He said to provide educational facilities to a maximum number of people, the government had decided to start evening classes in all the schools and colleges. Similarly, classes for computer sciences were also being started in 6,000 educational institutions. The government was giving priority to education and providing maximum resources to make it a practicable and beneficial for society, he said.

The governor said: “The involvement of prominent industrialists, businessmen and traders in the joint management of colleges is reflective of the fact that the priorities fixed by the government are in right direction.” He said industrialists were willing to contribute their time, money, entrepreneurship and management skills to bring about a quantitative as well as qualitative improvement in the education sector.

He said a new conscious public approach had emerged and the people were demanding for quality education. In this connection, he mentioned his visit to Jatoi and told that Mukhtiaran Mai also demanded a school for her village instead of punishment of her molesters. This new approach also indicated that the government and the people were ready to jointly manage schools, colleges, hospitals and other welfare institutions.

Dispelling the impression that the constitution of board of governors will lead to privatization of these institutions, he said it was not privatization. The government resources were being handed over to BoGs for the welfare, uplift and betterment of the public.

He also gave an assurance that teachers would not be dismissed from service, fee would not be raised and markets would not be constructed on the lands of these schools.

He said efforts were being made for the promotion of education by allocating maximum resources. New syllabus and the new examination system had been evolved up to intermediate level, Rs340 million had been allocated for the training of teachers, seven private colleges had been given the university status and four educational institutes had been set up for higher education.

The governor said some 4,500 schools had been imparting computer education while Rs500 million had been allocated to give scholarship to students and teachers. An amount of Rs600 million had been earmarked to award scholarship to the students of rural areas, he said.

He hoped the computer training would be imparted to each and every student by starting evening classes in schools and colleges.

INCENTIVES: The Punjab government will provide all incentives to promote the industry besides ensuring that no bureaucratic hurdle is created in the way of industrialists.

This was stated by Governor Khalid Maqbool in Khurrianwala, some 20km from here, while talking to the members and office bearers of the Khurrianwala Industrial Estate Association.

The governor said frequent inspections by different departments of an industrial unit were being clubbed into a single visit for which the respective DCO would fix date and time. Similarly, the government was also considering to hand over the social security cover from the government to the industrial sector itself, he said.

The governor said the government had inducted the private sector in developing of roads and industrial estates. Three important roads — Lahore-Gujranwala, Lahore-Kasur and Faisalabad-Sheikhupura — would be improved by the private sector on a BOT basis and work on them would start in August.

He appreciated the association’s role in the establishment of KIEA complex which offers fire brigade, medical cover and rescue-15 facilities.

The governor said dualization of five kilometres of the Khurrianwala-Jaranwala Road would be carried out soon. As far as the construction of Sheikhupura Road at Khurrianwala Chowk was concerned, the DCO would look into the matter and the required land would be provided in case no technical hitch was involved. Later, the governor inaugurated the KIEA complex.

He also went to the Khurrianwala police station where he inspected the construction of a new block. He also visited the Forest Research Institute, Gatewala.