LAHORE: Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas has said that the Punjab government has decided to issue teaching licences to improve the level of teaching in schools, and in this connection a bill will be tabled in the Punjab Assembly very soon. "This move will also open windows for teachers seeking jobs in foreign countries," he said while addressing the House during the general discussion on Education here on Friday. In the absence of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Mian Shafi Muhammad chaired the House's proceeding.
The Minister told the House that the process of filling vacant teaching posts in all government schools of Punjab will be completed in the next month, and added that registration of private schools will be done online. "After Eid, the process of online registration of 60,000 private schools will start," he added.
He lambasted the previous government of PML-N for doing nothing on the education sector and added that now they complain that there is no school in their areas. "They should sit silently; our government is taking a number of measures to improve the education sector, including bringing legislations on teacher licensing and private educational institutions," he added. The criticism pumped up the PML-N benchers and they interrupted the minister's speech with anti-government slogans and tore the copies of the House's agenda. Rana Mashhood of PML-N challenged the Minister's facts and said that the Minister is taking the credit for the projects that were started by former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif.
However, the Chairman refused to allow Mashood to speak on a point of order by saying that he will not allow anyone to interrupt the general discussion on education. The commotion created by the opposition benchers did not deter the Minister from completing his speech. He boasted that his ministry recruited 250,000 new teachers and not a single person can raise a finger on the recruitment.
During the question hour session on the forest and fisheries department, concerned Minister Sabteen Khan said that the provincial government was attaching great importance to forests and wildlife. "They are taking steps to make the province a green Punjab. In the next three to four years, most of the targets of the Green Punjab project will be achieved," he added. During her question, Raheela Khadim Hussain taunted the Minister for being busy 'with the National Accountability Court (NAB)'. To which he said that when the NAB started an investigation against him, he had resigned from the ministry himself. "No one had asked me to resign and when I was released, I did not ask for the ministry," he added.
Supporting his fellow minister, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat said that the forest minister is sitting here after getting a bail and only after that he was given the ministry. However, the opposition leader is not even on a bail, but still is present in the House and we are tolerating him," he added. After the completion of agenda, the House was adjourned till Monday.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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