Rs3bn allocated for 167 Islamabad schools’ upgrade

ISLAMABAD: On the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Ministry of Education has started work on infrastructure development project for 167 schools in urban and rural areas of Islamabad.

Under this project, infrastructure development programme of 120 rural and 47 urban schools has been started. Rs3 billion have been allocated for the current financial year out of Rs7 billion total cost of the project.

Federal Secretary, Ministry of Education, Muhyuddin Wani, said the aim of this programme is to ensure quality education in a safe and conducive environment. “Our focus is on upgrading rural schools first,” he said.

Under the programme, 200 additional rooms will be where there is shortage of classrooms, he said. Modern libraries will be established in these schools to promote literacy. He said new washrooms will be constructed and four walls will be built around the schools for safety purposes. IT labs will be set up for digital literacy of children. Roof treatment will be done to protect the roofs from leaking. New electrical appliances and new furniture will be provided to the schools, the secretary said.

As a result of upgradation, the number of students in rural schools of Islamabad will increase, he hoped. They will get better opportunities for education and training.

The community will be involved to make this system sustainable. A monitoring system will be developed and staff will be trained, he said.