LAHORE: Punjab Minister for School Education Rana Sikandar Hayat has said the government has introduced reforms and initiatives during its 10-month tenure in the year 2024 and termed it a transformative year for education in the province. Presenting the performance report of his ministry for the year 2024, he claimed that their work had outpaced the achievements of the previous government’s entire term. “2024 was a year of historic education reforms in Punjab. In just 10 months, we rectified the serious mistakes of the previous political administration and delivered results equivalent to five years of work,” he said. The minister shared that under the new policies, the cost of publishing textbooks was significantly reduced from Rs14 billion during the PTI era to Rs6 billion, by eliminating unnecessary intermediaries. A crackdown on cheating networks, known as “booti mafia”, was also launched, with security cameras installed at examination centres to ensure transparency during exams. He said technological advancements were a key focus, with the introduction of tech education, AI courses, and Google for Education programmes in Pakistan. He said a collaboration with Google was initiated to offer IT certification courses to 300,000 youth, aiming to equip them with skills relevant to modern demands and a massive enrollment drive was launched to bring out-of-school children back into the education system. He said under the Zewar-i-Taleem programme, Rs2.1 billion in stipends were distributed to female students. The minister also highlighted the launch of the largest scholarship scheme in Pakistan’s history, which now benefits 30,000 students annually from both public and private universities. He said adult literacy programmes were also prioritised, while the scope of technology education in schools was further expanded and a nutrition programme was introduced in public schools in south Punjab, benefiting approximately 400,000 children daily. He said that to enhance girls’ access to education, transport facilities were provided in tehsils, and a scooter scheme was launched for female students. Mr Hayat emphasised that merit-based reforms were a hallmark of his administration. For the first time, all appointments to administrative positions in the education department, including vice chancellors, college directors, principals, CEOs and DEOs, were made through transparent test and interview processes. Additionally, Punjab’s first-ever e-transfer policy for teachers was implemented, ensuring efficiency and fairness. Nadra verification was made mandatory to eliminate fake enrollments and ensure accurate data management. He further shared that commerce colleges were converted into e-commerce colleges to align with changing market trends, while low-performing schools were outsourced to improve outcomes. This step resulted in a substantial increase in enrollment from 250,000 to 425,000 students. Committees were established at the divisional level to monitor schools, address infrastructure gaps, and improve the overall education system. The minister said a pilot project for EdTech-based schools targeting out-of-school children had been launched, with plans to expand the programme across Punjab in 2025. He also announced that preparations for the laptop scheme had been finalised, with the distribution set to begin in January 2025.