Education top priority of PTI-led government: minister

KP Minister for Elementary and Secondary Education Muhammad Atif Khan said that education is the top priority of PTI-led government. 70 percent issues regarding education system across the province have been solved during the last three years, he added. He stated this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of newly-constructed Government Primary School (GPS) No 3 Hayatabad in which the children of Afghan refugees can take admission.
The GPS 3 is one of 31 primary public schools which UNHCR has rehabilitated through donor agencies in KP under the RAHA and HUJRA education intervention. Those who spoke on the occasion were Muhammad Shehzad Arbab, Secretary Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), Ina Lepel, Federal Republic of Germen Ambassador in Pakistan and Indrika Ratwatte, UNCHR Representative in Pakistan. "PTI government is spending 28 percent provincial budget on education sector which is a very high as compare to other provinces of Pakistan. The real change can only be possible through education," Atif said.
The minister maintained that they were grateful to the international community for supporting this important cause and fully acknowledged the fact that education was the basic right of every child without any discrimination of race, creed, colour, religion and nationality. Ina Lepel appreciated the efforts made by UNHCR and the government counterparts for realising this important project. She also underlined the need to support those communities which had been hosting Afghan refugees for last so many years. She added that the improvement of living conditions regarding education, health and community infrastructure was a key concern to the Germen development cooperation.
Indrika Ratwatte reaffirmed UNHCR's commitment to enhance capacity of KP government in education sector. He appreciated the provincial government efforts for allowing Afghan refugees children access to government sector schools. In education sector through RAHA 12 projects worth of Rs 277 million funded by the Federal Republic of Germany through Kreditanstalt fur Wiederufbau Development Bank (KFW) and the United States government have been implemented so far and handed over to KP Education department. All the schools that have been renovated and upgraded are located in deprived areas where Afghan refugees are living in a huge number.
So far 31 schools under the project have been renovated and reconstructed in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in which 23 are primary schools, three Middle schools and 5 High schools. Total of 31 schools, 10 are for girls and 10,127 students are getting education in which 1,480 are Afghan and 8,647 are belong to local communities.