Chief minister announces education emergency in KP

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has announced an education emergency, and decided to launch education card on the pattern of the health card in the province.

Initially, the education card will be launched in nine far-flung districts including Upper Kohistan, Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas, Tor Ghar, Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, Tank, Upper South Waziristan, and Lower South Waziristan. Later, the initiative will also be extended to other districts across the province.

This decision was made at a meeting of the Elementary and Secondary Education Department held at Chief Minister’s Secretariat Peshawar on Tuesday with the chief minister in the chair.

Under the education card, children to be enrolled in government schools will receive a monthly stipend of Rs1,000 each. Additionally, children in the aforementioned districts will be able to enroll in registered private schools on the expenses of the provincial government. Initially, 40,000 children from these nine districts will benefit from this initiative.

Similarly, under this scheme, girls from grades 6 to 10, already enrolled in government schools across the province, will be provided with monthly stipend of Rs500 each. Around 550,000 girls will benefit from these stipends.

The annual cost of these educational stipends is estimated as Rs. 3.1 billion, which will be borne by the provincial government.

Furthermore, the provision of free textbooks, scholarships, and other existing facilities will be unified under the education card. Approximately 50 million free textbooks will be provided to children from grades 1 to 12. Additionally, 506 talented students will also be granted ETEA scholarships.

In order to ensure the sustainability of the education card program, the chief minister has also approved to establish a Chief Minister’s Education Emergency Endowment Fund with the seed money of Rs3 billion.