LAHORE, Aug 12: District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood has stressed the need for finding a solution to growing gap between students currently studying in five different streams of education in vogue in the country.

He was speaking at a function organized in connection with the Independence Day celebrations at Fatima Memorial Hospital College of Medicine and Dentistry auditorium here on Thursday.

Mr Mahmood said the five systems of education - from madaris to O and A Levels - were producing five different classes. He observed that the education being imparted in mosques and religious schools was not about Islam but different sects.

Unlike past, he lamented that the 'tat' schools were no more producing leaders. "Students doing their CSS and winning top government jobs now are not from tat schools," he said.

Stressing that this gap between the less-privileged and elite classes must be reduced, he urged the philanthropists that it was high time to come forward and help poor students so that they could also seek quality education.

He said the Lahore district government had taken initiative to enhance quality of education being imparted in less-privileged public sector schools. Out of 1,400 schools, he said, an NGO adopted 350 schools and had started imparting English medium education to the students. He hoped that the base of the students studying in these schools would be strengthened.

Mr Mahmood said there was a shortage of some 2,000 teachers in public sector schools in Lahore district because the government did not have resources to pay salaries. The private sector, he said, had given 1,000 teachers to the government who were now serving in public sector schools but their salaries were being paid by philanthropists.

The district government had also revived the Government Islamia High School, Bhati Gate, and launched O-Level classes there. He said the school closed by the previous government had been revived with a total cost of Rs30 million provided by the private sector. Some 400 students had so far been enrolled with the school.

The district Nazim announced a donation of Rs500,000 for the Fatima Memorial System and assured that the government would provide it a piece of land for the establishment of a nursing and paramedical school besides other assistance at government level.