LAHORE, Oct 23: The Punjab Education Foundation has trained 11,000 teachers of private schools through a cluster programme and provided financial assistance to 184 private institutions in 12 districts so far.

Foundation managing director Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik stated this while briefing a delegation of the All-Pakistan Private Schools Welfare Association on the facilities being offered to the private educational institutions on the directions of Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi.

He said the foundation had launched the educational voucher scheme in Lahore, which enabled the students to avail themselves of educational facilities in any of the schools registered under it. The scheme will be launched in other districts of the province in near future.

He said the foundation had decided to advance loans to the private educational institutions on merit because the loans of Rs1,670 million granted to some of them from 1991 to 2004 had failed to produce the desired results.

Association president Syed Zulqernain Shah appreciated the decision of the foundation to provide financial assistance to the institutions on merit. He said the association also appreciated the foundation’s decision to provide assistance to its member institutions on a priority basis and was ready to enter into partnership with it in resource programme and teachers’ training. — Reporter