29 September 2004	Wednesday	13 Shaban 1425

ISLAMABAD, Sept 28: Federal Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi on Tuesday said free education would soon be provided in all schools of Islamabad Capital Territory from class 1 to matriculation.

He said he would make the formal announcement in this regard after approval from the authorities concerned. Presiding over a meeting of the ministry officials here, the minister said the move aimed at enhancing the literacy rate by making education accessible to all as committed by the government.

Likewise, he said, the government would soon start technical and vocational education classes in educational institutions from middle level onwards to produce skilled people than mere literates.

He said his top priority would be to impart technical education to ensure provision of jobs to the students, which would, in turn, reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty.

The minister said he would soon reorganize the administrative structure of the ministry by placing right man for the right job. He also grilled the officers for their indifference towards implementation of educational policies.

He warned the that no slackness and lethargic attitude would be tolerated as the education sector had already suffered a lot because of non-seriousness of the bureaucracy in the ministry.

Mr Qazi said bureaucratic delays in the routine and important policy matters, and file work would be countered through strict disciplinary action, which could also lead to removal from services.

He also warned the officers to stop patronizing any favourite NGOs in funding, since it would be tantamount to the clash of interest, which he would never tolerate. He directed the federal secretary education to submit to him the details of the foreign tours undertaken by the ministry's officers from time to time.

The minister also issued directives that in future, every officer had to submit a detailed report to him upon his return, which would be assessed by him, the secretary and the joint secretary.

He also directed the secretary to regularly convene the staff conference in the first week of every month to review the status and the pace of projects, and targets to be accomplished by the ministry.

He also asked the secretary education to put up a report to him regarding consultants and technical advisers hired by the ministry from foreign or local firms. He maintained that "if our officers were competent enough, there would be no foreign consultancy culture in the country".