KARACHI, Jan 8: The federal government has formulated a new policy for releasing funds to the provinces under an agreement with the condition that the provinces will utilize the funds properly on the development schemes within a period of six months.

This was stated by federal minister for education, Zudaida Jalal, at a high-level meeting of all the district Nazims, District Coordination Officers (DCOs) and Executive Districts Officers (EDOs) Education of the province at the Sindh Secretariat here on Tuesday. Sindh minister for education, Prof Anita Ghulam Ali, besides federal and provincial secretaries of education attended the meeting.

The provincial governments would distribute the funds among the district governments, who would be responsible for execution of the projects, the minister said, adding that the funds would stand lapsed in case they are not utilized within a specified period.

The education minister told the meeting that the federal government, under the President’s Programme for Rehabilitation and Optimum Utilization of Existing Facilities in Elementary Education, had allocated Rs1.57 billion in the budget for the financial year 2001-2, while the federal cabinet had recently approved an additional grant of Rs2 billion, which would be released to the provinces according to their shares.

Out of the additional grant of Rs2 billion, Punjab will receive Rs833.472 million, Sindh Rs335.232 million, NWFP Rs374.976 million, Balochistan Rs256.320 million, while Rs200 million have been earmarked for the federally-administered areas, she added.

Under the President’s Programme, the minister said, electricity would be provided to 95,979 schools, water supply to 56,455 existing schools, toilets would be constructed in 79,342 existing schools and boundary walls in 64,973 schools, besides construction of buildings for 18,030 shelterless schools in the country.

She said the targets of the programme included an increase of the literacy rate from 47 per cent to 60 per cent by the year 2004, and the gross primary enrolment from 83 per cent to 100 per cent; net primary enrolment will increase from 66 per cent to 76 per cent; middle school enrolment from 47.5 to 55 per cent; and secondary school enrolment from 29.5 to 40 per cent.

“The government plans to expand technical education up to the tehsil/taluka level and pursuant to the plan, two technical education institutes will be set up in each district, while a polytechnic institute will be established in each tehsil/taluka of the country,” Ms Jalal added.

The high-quality training of teachers as well as administrative staff was also on priority of the government’s agenda as their efficiency was not up to the mark, she observed, maintaining that the government had also earmarked sufficient funds for the purpose and the teachers, particularly those working in the remote areas, would benefit from the programme.

The federal minister asked the district Nazims and the DCOs to prepare schemes with a minimum estimated cost, which could be completed within a shortest possible time. She urged them to conduct surveys of the schools, which are lacking basic facilities like water supply, electricity, toilets, boundary walls, and furniture etc.

Prof Anita Ghulam Ali said the provincial education department was planning to arrange teachers’ training programmes with the help of the Aga Khan Foundation and other reputed organizations in the private sector. She said a scheme had been prepared to upgrade primary schools to the middle level.—PPI/APP