Rs 5b for IT labs at govt schools

By Khalid Khattak

LAHORE: THE Punjab government will allocate around Rs 5 billion in budget 2008-09 for the establishment of computer labs in government high and higher secondary schools of the province.With the addition of allocation for the establishment of computer laboratories, the total allocations for education sector in the budget 2008-09 would be over Rs 27 billion, sources dealing with the budget proposals informed The News.They said the allocations for the computer education project would be reflected in the Annual Development Plan (ADP) in the upcoming budget. The said the project was not in budgetary proposals forwarded by the education department earlier, adding efforts in that connection were made following the announcement by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif in which he had said over 4000 public schools would be given facilities to impart computer education in the near future. The announcement regarding the provision of computer education in all the high and higher secondary schools of Punjab was made by Shahbaz Sharif in his maiden speech after being elected as CM Punjab on June 8. He had also maintained that the judiciary, the health and the education sectors would be among top priorities of his government.Sources in the school education department said that the CM had vowed to provide opportunities of computer education to students of all high and higher secondary schools of the province during the upcoming fiscal year. “For this purpose IT labs would be established in around 4500 high and higher secondary schools of the province”, they said. “There are over 5000 high and higher secondary schools in Punjab”, they said, adding “Over 512 have already been provided the facilities of computers and IT labs”.They said the project regarding the establishment of IT labs in the government high and higher secondary schools was initiated in 2004 with support of the federal government. “Since then, IT labs have been establishment in over 500 schools of Punjab”, they said, adding “The rest of the schools were still deprived of the facility”. An official of school education department said the establishment of computer labs in around 4500 schools in one year would be a challenging task, adding, however, it was not impossible provided there was a vision. “The project earlier could not be completed because of funding issues in the past”, he added. Talking about School Education budgetary allocations in 2008-09 ADP, he said, earlier, over Rs 10 billion were proposed in school education adding, with the addition of computer education project, the total proposed allocation for the department would be over Rs 16 billion.When contacted, a senior officer of Punjab School Education Department, seeking anonymity, confirmed the proposed budgetary allocation for computer education. He said the special announcement in that regard would be made in the upcoming budget. He said school education was top priority of the new government, adding maximum allocations were likely to be made for the school education department in budget 2008-09.

Source: The News International
Friday, June 13, 2008