LAHORE, Nov 3: The Punjab government has decided to survey illiterate people in 31 districts of Punjab while it has completed a survey in four districts — Mandi Bahauddin, Khushab, Dera Ghazi Khan and Khanewal — selected as a model for achieving cent per cent literacy.

Punjab Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education secretary Rai Ijaz Ali Zaigham stated this at a meeting of the Literacy Forum held here on Friday with former National Literacy Commission chairman and ambassador Inayatullah in the chair.

Representatives of NGOs engaged in the literacy programme attended the meeting.

Mr Zaigham said the data collected in the four selected districts has been computerised during the first phase of the literacy programme while the second phase aimed at implementation of the actual literacy programme would begin next month.

He said the government planned to set up 15,000 literacy centres and 9,000 non-formal basic education centres in the districts which would help raise literacy in the province.

He said the government wanted to contact the illiterate people which was a gigantic task and it was not possible to reach every person without the help of the people and voluntary organisations engaged in the promotion of literacy.

The secretary said NGOs could play an important role in this regard and they could extend their cooperation to the government. The programmes for promotion of literacy and “Education For All” could be successfully completed with the joint efforts of NGOs and civil society organisations and no government alone could undertake such a stupendous task, he added.

Ministry of Education’s deputy education adviser Dr Salim said the government and society had always neglected literacy and the result was that Pakistan was one of the countries with lowest literacy rate in the world.

He said only one per cent of the education budget was allocated for literacy programme which was insignificant as compared to the heavy allocations for development of other education sectors.

For example, he said, he was astonished to learn at a meeting called for development of cadet schools recently that their organisers were not satisfied with the allocation of Rs190 million for each cadet schools and demanded that it should be increased to at least Rs1 billion for expanding their buildings, swimming pools etc.

He said this heavy expenditure was in contrast to an allocation of Rs800 million made for the development of all primary schools in the country.

UNESCO’s senior national specialist (education) Arshad Saeed Khan said according to UNESCO a country with less than 50 per cent literacy rate or having a population of over 10 million illiterate people was a backward country.