LAHORE, July 28: The Punjab government has finally approved the four-year Punjab Accelerated Functional Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Project of the Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Department with a total outlay of Rs2.3 billion. The department had initially demanded Rs5.92 billion for the four-year project.

The Punjab Development Working Party (PDWP) meeting chaired by P&D chairman Javed Aslam on Saturday took up the revised project plan submitted by literacy department secretary Dr Pervaiz Ahmad Khan. Earlier, department’s demand for the project was deferred.

In the current financial year budget, the government allocated Rs700 million (a major portion of this allocation had been reflected as a block allocation) for the whole of the literacy department against a demand of Rs1.437 billion for its annual development programme.

The PDWP meeting, which was attended by the P&D and school education department secretaries, approved the four-year Punjab Accelerated Functional Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education Project, allowing the department to carry forward its project, which had ended on June 30.

According to details, the four-year project would open 170 non-formal basic education schools in 30 selected union councils in each of the 35 districts. The schools will cater to the needs of 5-16 years of age children. PML-N’s Punjab government has again kept Mandi Bahauddin out of literacy schemes to punish people for electing their representatives belonging to the Pakistan People’s Party.

The government has raised non-formal schoolteachers’ monthly salary from Rs2,500 to Rs5,000.

Discarding Adult Literacy Centres, the Punjab government has given a go ahead to Community Learning Centres and approved opening of 40 centres in each of the selected 23 districts, which have a literacy rate less than 65 per cent. Each centre will have two teachers to teach basic literacy and vocational skills (selected with the cooperation of PVTC and the livestock department).

In each of the district, there will be one literacy officer and four literacy mobilisers. The salaries of literacy officers and literacy mobilisers have been enhanced from Rs8,000 and Rs15,000 to Rs15,000 and Rs25,000, respectively.

Besides literacy programmes in districts, the literacy department would run literacy programmes in five major district jails and set up two literacy centres for eunuchs -- one each in Lahore and Rawalpindi.

The literacy department will monitor all of its literacy programmes.