KHAIRPUR, Jan 20: The Sindh government has allocated Rs14 billion for education in the current fiscal year, said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Sunday.

He was speaking at the foundation-stone-laying ceremony for Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Chair and the Date Palm Research Centre at the Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU) here on Sunday. The estimated cost of the projects stood at Rs41 million and Rs57.2 million, respectively.

The chief minister said the government wanted Pakistani universities to compete with world-class universities and to achieve the objective, the provincial government had allocated Rs14 billion for education sector.

The past governments had allocated only about Rs4 billion for the sector, he said.

He said that seven public sector universities had been established in different districts of the province at a cost of Rs400 billion.

He said that out of 7,000 closed schools in Sindh, 4,000 had been made functional, adding that the provincial government was paying Rs3,450 as a stipend to deserving female students in Tharparkar and Dadu districts.

The chief minister announced that a housing society scheme for employees of SALU was being established on the land available within the university premises.

He also announced releasing Rs311 million, which had been pending from an earlier grant and said the government would give an additional amount of Rs9 million to the university.

SALU VC Prof Dr Parveen Shah said that the university was growing to become a city of education but a myriad of problems and challenges, mainly financial constraints, had scuttled the pace of growth.

The university had to take heavy loans to pay off salaries to its employees and keep the institution running, she said, adding that the university’s academic calendar had been made compatible with that of other universities of the province.

She said that university had set up SALU Alumni Association which would play a very vibrant role in the development and worldwide recognition of the institution.

Taking into consideration the specific needs of the area, the university had introduced a new programme through the Institute of Gender Studies which would help in the development of the region, she said.

She said the university had established linkages with 10 universities of the country and Higher Education Commission under the title of consortium for the development of the social sciences, arts and humanities, which was aimed at promoting academic and research activities.

She said the university had signed a memorandum of understanding with Sindh ministry of tourism and constituted an advisory board of five chairs for upgrading the research culture.

A large number of teachers and officers attended the foundation-stone-laying ceremony.