ISLAMABAD, Dec 9: The government has decided to distribute 50 per cent among the four provinces, of the additional grant of Rs2 billion in education sector, early next year.

The cabinet recently approved the additional grant for the rehabilitation of existing facilities and for capacity building in education sector.

A meeting, presided over by Education Minister Zobaida Jalal, finalized the procedure for the transfer of federal allocations for education to the provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory, Federally- Administered Tribal Areas, Federally-Administered Northern Areas and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

An official announcement said that 50 per cent shares, out of Rs1.57 billion allocated in the budget 2001-2002 for the execution of different components of education sectoral reforms (ESR) would also be provided to the provinces.

It said the federal grant was being shared with all the provinces according to the NFC formula, while Balochistan and the NWFP would be given an additional 10 per cent for being less developed areas.

Special directives would also be given to ensure judicious and expeditious spending of the money.

Ms Jalal noted that there had been a considerable delay in the transfer of funds but efforts were being made to reduce the existing gap in the delivery system to ensure proper utilization of the funds and implementation of ESR projects.

The provinces would be free to spend the money according to their own priorities instead of wasting time in submitting feasibility reports to the federal government.

In turn, the provinces would provide facilities for district governments and pass on the funds to respective districts for final administration/ implementation of the projects and funds.

The meeting decided to hold a follow-up meeting on Jan 15 to monitor progress on the transfer of allocation and implementation of different projects.