RAWALPINDI, June 5: The provincial minister for education, Mian Imran Masood, said the Punjab government had allocated Rs43 billion for the promotion of education.

The minister was speaking as the chief guest at a prize- distribution ceremony of Inter-District Schools and Colleges Sports Tournament here on Saturday.

Mr Masood said as many as 1,500 new teachers would be recruited after the announcement of budget 2004-05 in order to promote education and improve facilities in this sector.

Teachers' promotion would depend on their performance and collective results of their respective institutions, he added.

The minister said the government was also considering plans to offer free higher education.

He said the steps taken by the Punjab government in education sector were aimed at providing quality education and raising literacy ratio. Free books worth about Rs500 million will be distributed among students of 63,117 schools, he added.

Mr Masood regretted that about four million children dropped out of primary schools in the Punjab every year. Accordingly, over 90 per cent girl students leave schools before matriculation.

"However, we have taken steps to stem this trend," he said.

The provincial minister said the Rawalpindi district was on top in terms of literacy in the province.

Later, he distributed prizes among students, who won various sports events.