PESHAWAR, Sept 10: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would implement the policy of uniform education system from next academic year, said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan here on Tuesday.

Addressing a ceremony, held in Government High School No.1 in connection with enrolment drive, he said that after implementation of the policy students of rich and poor families would be taught the same courses.

“There will be no difference between poverty-stricken and affluent students after the new system is introduced,” Mr Khan said. He added that the PTI-ld coalition government increased annual budget of education sector.

He said that additional funds were being provided to 29,000 schools to enhance enrolment and improve quality of education. “I can run an overseas fund-raising campaign for education in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if a need arises,” he added.

On the occasion, the PTI chief filled an admission form for a new student to kick off the drive aimed at enrolling 2.6 million out of school children in the province.

Despite financial constraints, the government would bring the promised reforms in all social sectors including education, Mr Khan said, adding that there was no separate education system for rich in any country of the world. He said that PTI was introducing uniform education system for all students.

The government was facing daunting task of bringing reforms into the current education system but it was fully determined to introduce a system in accordance with the modern day needs, the PTI chief said.

He said that the enrolment campaign was launched to encourage parents to admit their children to the government-run schools. “It is a real jihad to cleanse the education system and we are ready to make it possible,” he said.

Mr Khan said that overseas Pakistanis were the main asset of the local population as they were ready to help the country to stand on its feet. The PTI government would spend the donations of the expatriates in a transparency manner to benefit the children, he said.

“The whole education management system is being changed to make progress and improve standard of education besides ensuring that all children get an education,” the PTI chief said.

He said that government accorded top priority to reforms in education, health and judiciary. He said that they would rid the people of the present police system to bring a real change in the province. The other provinces, he said, would soon start following Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Mr Khan said that they decided to revamp education system as the present system didn’t allow the middle and lower middle class students to compete with the students of expensive private schools. “For this purpose, we have chalked out a programme to scale up education standard at the state-run schools,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said that his government was committed to translate into action its promise of change. He said that people would witness a visible change in their education system by March next year. Within two months, people would see a marked difference in the governance, he said, adding that he was sure that people would praise the government.

“Every department has been tasked to hammer out a strategy to cope with the situation and bring betterment for the welfare of the people,” Mr Khattak said.

Elementary and Secondary Education Secretary Joudat Ayaz said on the occasion that the current fiscal budget of the province registered an increase of 30 per cent as compared to that of 2012.

The government, he said, was determined to enrol out of school children. “We have devised a mechanism to constantly monitor the enrolment campaign to get the desired results,” Mr Ayaz said.