PESHAWAR:Minister for Education and Elementary Education Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shahram Khan Tarakai has said that launching of second shifts in schools is futuristic initiative for keeping pace with modern countries through promotion of quality education, is currently creating 704 employment opportunities.
Talking to media, the provincial education minister said that initially, 120 schools had been selected in 16 settled districts across the province to start double shifts with focus on encouraging girls and dropout students especially at remote areas.
He said that existing teachers at schools had been given the option to teach in evening shifts and they would be given extra salary for this purpose, adding presently the initiative was not in vogue at schools of merged tribal districts.
Currently, he said that the number of students in merged districts was not so large and they still needed to admit more children in them, thus these areas could be focused during province-wide enrolment which aimed at bringing 800,000 out of school children back to school by September 15.
He was of the view that efforts should be made to provide more access to girls to get education in tribal districts where parents wanted to provide education to their girls and this project could really materialize their long-cherished dream to this effect.
While commenting on this particular initiative, a private school’s principal said that most of the schools were overburdened with having an excessive number of students, hampering the way of providing quality education to children.
Thus, launching a second shift in schools was a prudent and visionary decision of the government which would have far-reaching positive results and lead to promotion of education by providing opportunities for education to maximum children, especially girls.
He said the infinitive would facilitate and encourage parents to send their children to schools as classes under the second shift programme would commence the following afternoon and those children who were at jobs in the morning could also conveniently come and get education through the system.
He said that education was a key to national prosperity and progress and the goal of sustainable development could be achieved by equipping every child with his basic right to education.
He said that the government was making solid measures to provide access to education to all children in order to gear them up for facing contemporary and future challenges effectively.
Peoples have also appreciated the government’s decision to introduce a uniform education syllabus in school, saying it was really a key achievement of the present government and it would put an end to status-based education system in society, adding different teaching of different curriculum to children had widen gap between the rich and the poor segments.
The education department has also earmarked a hefty amount for provision of furniture to all school students across the province and this year he added that all children would have proper facilities for seating.
Similarly, the department was providing 7000 Rehmatul lil Alameen Scholarship to assist the students from all the public sector on merit and need basis and the move would help promote education among the youth who were considered as future leaders of the country.