"The Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) is giving special attention to promote free schooling in education-wise backward, remote and far-flung areas where economically deprived communities cannot benefit from routine schooling infrastructure due to different socio-economic compulsions. The core purpose of this foundation is to ensure equal access of every needy child to school." PEF Chairman Engineer Qamarul Islam Raja said this while addressing the participants of an educational seminar on "Salute to Punjab Education Foundation" here on Friday.
He said that PEF free educational programmes are regularly expanded to accommodate more and more out of school and dropout children. He further said, "PEF is already in the process of partnering more than 1,500 low cost private schools in different districts during current academic year alone. This would be the biggest PEF expansion which will help to increase the total number of beneficiaries from 1.7 million to 2 million.
This would be a giant leap towards attaining the goals of Parho Punjab, Barho Punjab." Qamarul Islam said that different useful interventions have greatly helped to make this public private partnership based system more efficient, transparent and result-oriented which is also helping the school partners. It has been envisaged to introduce different incentives for partners improving their schools' infrastructure and arranging facilities like library and play ground for their students, he added.