RAWALPINDI
Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif chaired a special meeting for a detailed review of progress on various projects of School and Higher Education Departments, including Honhar Scholarship and Laprop programmes.
She was happy to note that 98% of Punjab’s students express strong satisfaction with CM Punjab Laptop Scheme.
She directed the authorities concerned to issue scholarships to all eligible students under Honhar Scholarship program, and noted that for the first time in Punjab’s history, 62,949 students will receive Honhar Scholarships at once.
The Higher Education Department had submitted a summary for Honhar Scholarships for 30,000 students.
She said that a total of Rs 23.80 crore were allocated for Honhar Scholarships for 5,282 students in 262 government colleges in Punjab during Phase-I; while in Phase-II, scholarships worth Rs 19.40 crore have been set aside for 4,310 students in 200 government colleges.
She added that 25,000 scholarships will be given in 365 graduate, visually-impaired and other special students.
Chief Minister Punjab said that over 38,000 students benefited from CM Punjab Laptop Program Phase-I; whereas 142,000 students have applied under Phase-II of the program.
She directed the relevant authorities that minority students should also be given laptops on open merit and equal footing.
She added that for the first time in Punjab, a principled decision has been taken to raise standard of college education, besides giving electrobus facility to college students in the province. She directed the relevant authorities to work on war footing to improve schools in Sargodha and other districts.
She highlighted that for the first time in Punjab’s colleges, KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) have been set for principals, teachers, and colleges; and performance of vice-chancellors of public sector universities will also be evaluated according to standard KPIs.
She directed the relevant stakeholders to establish new, state-of-the-art IT labs in 166 government colleges in Punjab, where students from both government and private educational institutions will be offered courses in cybersecurity, AI, business intelligence, and other 3-6 month courses.
She underscored that Google will also provide free Google certification courses to over 100,000 students in Punjab, which typically cost between $400 and $1,000 per course. Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif directed to affiliate all 36 commerce colleges in 29 districts of Punjab with 19 public sector universities, as each commerce college will be affiliated with the public university located in its district. She said that 14 BS disciplines, including business, accounting, finance, banking, IT, and e-commerce will be taught in the province.
She added that under PECTA (Punjab Examination Commission), 994,000 students participated in Grade 8 assessment exams in Punjab; the success rate for female students was 92%, while for male students it was 84%. She expressed with satisfaction that the top three positions were secured by female students.
