PESHAWAR, Nov 16: The provincial finance department has released 50 per cent of the total funds for the development schemes of the Schools and Literacy Department reflected in the ADP 2002-2003.

This was stated by provincial minister for information and education Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani while presiding over a meeting here on Saturday.

The minister directed all the district coordination officers (DCOs), executive district officers (education) and other line departments to ensure timely completion of the schemes included in the Structural Adjustment Credit (SAC) programme, directly financed by the World Bank.

The SAC is a financing agreement between the NWFP government and the World Bank under which financial support is provided directly to the provincial government for financing of the budget.

All development schemes of the Schools and Literacy Department reflected in the ADP 2002-03 are financed under the SAC agreement and will be implemented by the district governments.

According to a handout, 50 per cent funds for all the approved schemes of the Schools and Literacy Department have been released by the finance department.

Under this three-year scheme, all girls schools in the province will be provided basic amenities like boundary walls, toilet, water supply, sanitation in the first year.

The minister told the meeting that in case the amount allocated this year was utilized in time, the World Bank would again advance such a credit for the next year. But its timely utilization was a pre-condition for the next two years, he added.

In the education sector, the scheme provided Rs72.053 million for quality improvement, Rs36.250 million for good governance, Rs7267.569 million for improving access, Rs1766.292 million for improving the learning environment and Rs26 million for beneficiary participation.

The meeting was informed that in all the districts, interviews for recruitment of teachers had been conducted and the process would be completed by the end of this month. Over 6,000 teachers would be appointed in this way.

The meeting observed that in districts like Kohistan, Buner, upper Dir, lower Dir and Batagram, the number of trained PTC and CT teachers was less than the vacancies. Therefore, less-qualified local teachers would be appointed with the condition that they would acquire required qualification in a specified time, the meeting decided.

The meeting also decided that the departments of education, health, PE&D, Work and Services, and Finance, EDOs (education), DCOs and district governments would keep a close coordination to expedite implementation of the programme.

The meeting was attended by provincial minister for health Mehr Taj Roghani, all DCOs, EDOs (education), secretaries of health, education and PE&D.