ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Education has decided that after third party evaluation of work done in schools under Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme, pending payments to contractors will be released.

The Prime Minister’s Education Reform Programme was launched in 2016 for repair and maintenance of schools in Islamabad and under this project, 200 school buildings were repaired.

According to sources, for the ongoing fiscal year, Rs800 million was allocated by the federal government to complete the project out of which, Rs640 million has been released and will be paid to contractors against already completed work. However, to ensure transparency, the ministry decided to go for third party evaluation to cross check the completed work.

“We will release funds against liabilities in a transparent manner,” said an officer of the ministry.

Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) officials said that this project should be finished at the earliest as for the last five years, it remained in progress disturbing educational activities.

They appreciated the ministry for third party evaluation to ensure transparency. Earlier, in 2018, the project faced allegations of substandard work and corruption, and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) started a probe which is still incomplete.

Following this, while handing-taking, FDE run schools got inventory from contractors. The officials said that some schools are still incomplete and this project should be completed in the current fiscal year to avoid lapse of funds.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2021