ISLAMABAD, July 1: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Friday approved a proposal to regularise the evening shifts being run in some schools and colleges of the federal capital.

The prime minister also desired to make Islamabad a model city for education.

“The schools and colleges in Islamabad should be the best in country in terms of all aspects of education specially the quality of teachers, quality of education imparted and co-curricular activities”, the prime minister said.

He was presiding over a meeting at the Prime Minister’s House to review the goals and targets of the education ministry.

The prime minister directed the education ministry to provide missing facilities in 1,000 schools during 2006-07 and award merit scholarships to 1,400 students of Islamabad Capital Territory’s primary and middle level schools.

The prime minister also directed the education authorities to impart training to 75 education managers of Azad Kashmir, Federally-Administered Northern Areas (FANA), FATA, ICT and Cantonment as well as Garrison in various fields of education.

The prime minister said the government was working to put in place a vibrant, dynamic and relevant educational system to create knowledge-based society to ensure sustained development.

He said the government had substantially enhanced the education sector’s budgetary allocation to improve the standard and quality of education.

Minister for Education, Lt-Gen (retd) Javed Ashraf Qazi informed the prime minister about the new scheme of studies.

Under this new policy, emphasis will be both on the religious and formal education and gradually the education of science and mathematics will be imparted in English in every government owned school and college.

The prime minister was informed that English language has been made compulsory from class one onwards.

The project for upgradation of 46 elementary schools of the Federal area to the level of Islamabad model schools is making good progress and this year 32 schools will be up graded.

The meeting was attended among others by Minister of State for Education Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli and senior officials.