RAWALPINDI, July 10: Senior Punjab Minister Mohammad Basharat Raja has said a package amounting to Rs21 billion has been prepared to provide 'missing' facilities in educational institutions in the province.

He said this while talking to this reporter after attending a function organized by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi to award medals to students who got positions in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination results here on Saturday.

The minister said it was a three-year plan which would be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

To a question, he said proper monitoring system had been developed to ensure that these funds were properly utilized. A cell has been set up especially for this purpose in the Planning and Development department, he said.

He said the implementation of this package in Rawalpindi district was a bit late because the plan prepared for it had to be revised due to change in priorities.

Earlier, speaking as chief guest at the function, Basharat Raja said Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi had focused all his attention on education which was why record funds had been allocated for this sector.

He dispelled the impression that the education advertisement being run on electronic media was aimed at self-projection of the chief minister. He said it was not merely a slogan but had been proved through pragmatic steps.

The funds allocated for the education sector had no precedent in the history of the Punjab government.

The provincial minister said funds would be spent on construction of buildings for those institutions functioning in hired buildings or whose buildings were in dilapidated condition, and provision of facilities like water, electricity and furniture.

All this is being done in order to bring government educational institutions on a par with top institutions in the private sector.

Mr Raja said why was it that private institutions produced position-holders every year whereas government schools/colleges lagged behind in showing good results. He stressed on the teachers and BISE officials to remove the gap between the performance of government and private institutions.

Next year, the top positions should go to students of government institutions, he added.

He said students studying in government schools and Darul Ulooms had all the capabilities and could outdo those studying in top-class institutions if the teachers were capable and hardworking and other facilities were made available to them.

He rejected the impression that students of Darul Ulooms could not compete with those of private schools.

If the government is paying so much attention to education with the allocation of huge funds then teachers and educationists should also play their role in imparting quality education to students, he said.

The minister said about 26,000 appointments were made in the province last year out of which 13,000 were in the education department. He said in the current year also, 13,000 would again be recruited in the education department.

Speaking on the occasion, the BISE chairman, Dr Aziz Ahmad Hashmi, said the foundation stone for the construction of BISE building would be laid next month.

Earlier, controller examination Prof Humayun Iqbal highlighted the board's performance.

In the end, awards and prizes were distributed among the position-holders.