ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Asad Umar on Tuesday said that expansion and rehabilitation work on 167 educational institutions in the federal capital will start soon.

While chairing a meeting on the project, ‘Provision of basic facilities in educational institutions of ICT’ worth Rs6.7 billion, the minister said that after completing all necessary requirements work on the project would be started soon.

The meeting was also attended by MNA Raja Khurram Nawaz, Parliamentary Secretary Wajiha Akram, officials of the planning ministry, education ministry and the Federal Directorate of Education. The minister also formed a committee headed by MNA Raja Khurram Nawaz to review the lists of 167 schools and to propose any change within two weeks, a press release said.

The minister said that schools which will be upgraded/facelifted should be made part of the project on the basis of need only.

The minster also directed for submission of PC-4 of educational institutions within two months.

PC-4 deals with hiring of staff and approval of a budget and in Islamabad some institutions have been operating for years without having staff and budget. They are working through borrowed staff of other institutions.

According to officials of FDE, the project worth will be executed in phases and for the current fiscal year the government has already allocated Rs409 million for it.

A notification issued by the ministry on Sept 2 stated that the federal secretary education had authorised the engineer who was serving as the project director of the Project Implementation Cell of Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme, to also work as the project director of the said mega project.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2021