LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has approved free Google certification courses for over 100,000 students across the province.
Under this initiative, students will not have to pay course fees, which usually range from $400 to $1,000.
The chief minister also approved electric bus facilities for college students and the establishment of modern IT laboratories in 166 government colleges across Punjab. The move aims to bring uniform standards in college education.
Chairing a meeting on Friday to review projects of the School Education and Higher Education Departments, she directed officials to speed up work on improving schools, including those in Sargodha and other districts, on an emergency basis.
She also ordered that all eligible students be given stipends under the Honhaar Scholarship Programme.
Officials told the meeting that, for the first time in Punjab’s history, 62,949 students will receive scholarships in one phase. In the second phase, visually impaired and other special students will also be included.
ALSO READ
Sindh makes teaching licence test mandatory for recruitment
The meeting approved the affiliation of all commerce colleges with public sector universities. In this plan, 36 commerce colleges in 29 districts will be linked with 19 universities, with each college connected to a university in its respective district.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be introduced for principals, teachers, and vice chancellors to assess their performance.
Under the Google certification programme, students from both public and private institutions will receive training in cyber security, artificial intelligence, business intelligence, and other short courses lasting three to six months.
ALSO READ
New national curriculum approved to ease study burden on students
The briefing further said that 142,000 students have applied for phase-II of the Chief Minister Punjab Laptop Scheme, while 365 graduate students will receive scholarships of Rs25,000 each.
Under phase-I of the Honhaar Scholarship Programme, Rs2.38 billion was distributed among 5,282 students from 262 colleges. In phase-II, Rs1.94 billion has been allocated for 4,310 students from 200 colleges.
The meeting was also informed that 9.94 million students appeared in the PECTAA Grade-8 exams, with a pass rate of 92 per cent among girls and 84 per cent among boys. The chief minister expressed satisfaction over the overall performance.
