ISLAMABAD, May 6: The government will introduce technical and vocational education parallel to science and arts at secondary level from next academic session for which Rs492 million have already been distributed.

An official source told Dawn that the objective was to expand options of employment for students who did not want to join pre-engineering, pre-medical or arts groups.

About the funds, the source said Rs492 million had been distributed among 34 districts of Punjab, 16 of Sindh, 22 of Balochistan and 24 districts of the NWFP.

The vocational subjects will be introduced in 110 secondary schools of the country. High school is a terminal stage of education for most youngsters, and therefore the scheme has been devised at the secondary level. Technical course to be taught in such institutions has already been prepared.

The planners believe that technical and vocational training, the third stream of the present government’s educational priorities, will help solve the problem of unemployment in the country.

They were of the view that without any saleable skills, the high school graduates were unacceptable in the labour market which aggravated the problem of unemployment.

Under the scheme, the existing polytechnic institutions in the public sector would be strengthened. The programme suggests that evening classes for women in these institutions should be started and more such centres set up in each Tehsil.

The feasibility study for establishing such institutions has already been prepared and the Islamic Development Bank has agreed to finance the project.

The plan has been prepared following President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s desire to set up one polytechnic institution each in 317 Tehsils.

About 78 polytechnic institutions are already functioning in the country.

In addition to technical education, the plan also includes revamping of science education in secondary schools. The government has already decided to establish computer laboratories in every public sector secondary and higher secondary school.

The source said facilities in secondary schools like laboratories, equipment and properly qualified science teachers were inadequate.

The education sector reforms emphasized on revamping science education through modernization of science curricula, provision of properly-equipped laboratories and training of science teachers.

In this regard, the source said, an amount of Rs100 million had been distributed among 34 districts of Punjab, 16 of Sindh, 15 out of 22 districts of Balochistan and 24 districts of the NWFP.