Rs 15,400m allocated for education and literacy

: Sindh Senior Minister for Education & Literacy Pir Mazharul Haq

KARACHI: Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah in his budget speech at the Sindh Assembly here on Monday, announced allocation of Rs 15,400 million to the education and literacy sector in annual development programme of the province for fiscal year 2012-13.

Explaining the demarcation, he informed the floor that out of the total Rs 15,400 million educational budget, Rs 768.621 million were allocated for elementary education, Rs 5,924.708 million for secondary education, Rs 4,117.430 million for college education, Rs 1,545.664 million for higher education, Rs 139.966 million for teachers’ education, Rs 1,313.622 million for Sindh Education Foundation and Rs 1,589.989 million for miscellaneous sectors. The minister said that a bright future could not be ensured unless massive investment was made in the education sector. “As such, a significant increase of about 50 percent has been made in the educational budget, which reflects the strong will and commitment of the government towards enhancing education and literacy,” he added.

Shah said that there had been significant breakthroughs in education sector which included establishment of two new universities, seven cadet colleges including two girls’ cadet colleges at Shaheed Benazirabad and Larkana as well as the establishment of four engineering colleges/institutes and a law college. The provincial finance minister said that the government had created another 8,000 vacancies in the education department to meet the requirements and provide education at the people’s doorsteps, besides attempting to mitigate unemployment. Talking about the improvement of educational facilities, he said that a major share of educational budget was allocated for developmental projects that included up-gradation of schools as well as establishment of basic and special educational institutes at divisional headquarters and talukas.

Moreover, considering the dire need to equip youth with technical and vocational training and education, the Sindh government allocated an amount of Rs 1,407 million for Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (STEVTA). Three schemes had already been running under the STEVTA, while another of cost Rs 500 million will be launched after being approved. Besides this, Rs 550 million have been allocated for special education, that caters to the needs of disabled and helps them become an active part of the society.

Education Sector :