LAHORE: Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat, in a symbolic gesture on World Children’s Day, transferred his ministerial charge to a high-achieving student.

The student, Abuzar, who scored high in the matriculation exam, arrived at the School Education Department offices in the minister’s official vehicle with full protocol, where senior officials warmly received him as “education minister”.

In the absence of the minister, Mr Hayat, all official engagements for the day were entrusted to Abuzar, who chaired multiple meetings and actively contributed to key decisions, alongside the department’s officials.

During the briefings, the young “minister” reviewed Lahore’s educational landscape and issued instructions to the relevant officers. He sought updates on the progress on recruitment of schoolteacher interns and directed that the ban on “hardship transfers” be removed at the earliest. He was also briefed on various initiatives aimed to improve basic facilities in schools. He held consultations with officials on enhancing various departmental processes.

He discussed scholarship schemes, fee waivers for underprivileged students and transport facilities for teachers. He also expressed a desire to ensure that deserving students in private institutions receive fee concessions, and highlighted the need to provide transport support to teachers serving in far-flung areas.

Later, he addressed a press conference, briefing the media on the day’s decisions and his experience of overseeing departmental affairs.

About the initiative, Mr Hayat said the purpose of such activities was to highlight children’s creativity, broaden their thinking and encourage them to take interest in governance and leadership.

PU VC: Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah said that no challenge can be resolved by a single organisation and called for effective collaboration for producing meaningful outputs.

He expressed these views while inaugurating the ‘Recombinant Vaccine and Protein Production Lab’ at the School of Biological Sciences. The event was accompanied by an agreement signing ceremony which aims to transfer poultry vaccine technology to the Sindh Institute of Animal Health (SIAH), Karachi.

PU Pro-VC Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood, SIAH DG Dr Nazeer Hussain Kolhoro, SIAH Research Director Dr Benazir Kanwal, Pakistan Academy of Sciences President Prof Dr Kauser Abdullah Malik, Punjab Agriculture Drug & Food Authority Director General Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha, CEMB Director Prof Dr Moazur Rahman, SBS Acting DG Prof Dr Sadaf Naz, and faculty members were present.

Prof Shah emphasised on technology’s potential economic benefits and appreciated the research work and said that they needed to develop effective collaboration for effective outputs. He said this vaccine development was extremely appreciable and they would look forward to positive outcomes of this tech transfer.

He congratulated Dr Moaz, who had developed the poultry vaccine technology and Dr Kolhoro, to whom the technology had been transferred.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2025