GUJRAT: The Punjab government has approved upgrade of the Government Boys Elementary School at Ladian, the native village of Maj Raja Aziz Bhatti, a recipient of the county’s highest military honour — Nishan-i-Haider — to a high school, along with seven other schools in the district.

The provincial government has allocated a sum of Rs11 million for the school upgrade, immediately releasing half of the amount, the district government announced here on Saturday.

The locals had been demanding the schools upgrade since long.

As many as seven more schools in the far-flung rural areas of the district would also be upgraded as part of Punjab government’s policy, the announcement said.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Liaqat Ali said that Rs185 million in total would be spent on the upgrade of these eight schools.

The amount would be spent on building additional academic and science blocks in these schools, he added.

He said a survey to assess the missing facilities in the government schools is also under way in the district.

The provincial government would provide separate funds for provision of these facilities in the schools, he added.

He said the school upgrade schemes would be complete within the current fiscal year.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2016