KARACHI, Oct 24: Federal Education Minister Zobaida Jalal has said that the government has allocated Rs300 million for establishment of new technical educational institutes at district level in all provinces.

“The initiative has been taken on the directives of President Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali who are very much concerned about the promotion of technical education in the country,” she said while speaking at the fourth inter-provincial education ministers conference held on Friday in Karachi.

Federal Secretary Education Syed Shafqat Hussain Shah, Sindh Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat, Punjab Education Minister Hussain Jehanian Gardezi, Adviser on Education for Federal Administered Northern Areas (FANA) Imran Nadeem Shagri, General Manager TEVTA Zaheer Javed Paracha and officials of education departments of NWFP and Balochistan provinces attended the conference.

Ms Zobaida maintained that Rs300 million would be distributed among all four provinces in accordance with their share. She clarified that the provinces would be given grants instead of loans for improvement of educational infrastructure.

“The government is also considering to provide funds for construction of toilets, boundary walls, whitewash and provision of scientific equipment at already functional schools instead of opening more schools,” she added.

Ms Zobaida said that the proposal of Microsoft Pakistan titled “Taleem Project: Empowering Pakistan’s Future” would enhance the development of education sector to a large extent.

“Through this project, the Microsoft will establish computer labs across the country in the public sector recognized educational institutions in addition to initiating a massive training campaign for 50,000 teachers,” she informed.

She directed provincial education departments to prepare reports for establishment of polytechnic institutes and strengthen primary and secondary education so that funds could be disbursed in this regard. “The provinces should strictly implement on compulsory education ordinance,” she said.

Opposing the idea of opening new technical institutions, Sindh Education Minister Irfanullah Marwat said that there were already 72 such institutes in the province, which were in very poor condition due to financial constraints.

He said, “We do not need establishment of new technical educational institutions, as the already established institutes have been facing shortage of faculty and equipment of labs.”

Provinces should be given their share to strengthen infrastructure for provision of technical education instead of opening of new institutions, he added.

Mr Marwat cited the example of a union council in Sindh, where only 30 students were enrolled in more than 32 schools. He urged the federal education department to provide funds for improvement of schools and provision of scientific equipment.

The education officials of other provinces also favoured the arguments of Sindh Education Minister and demanded funds for strengthening the already established educational institutions instead of opening new ones.

It was decided at the meeting that a province could utilize its share of this amount in accordance with its needs for the technical education.

To a question, Sindh Education Minister said that out of Rs300 million being allocated to all the four provinces, FANA and Kashmir, the share of Sindh would come around Rs57.9 million.—PPI/APP