LAHORE: The Punjab government has announced a new project to build elementary classrooms in 1,139 public schools across the province, with a total budget of Rs250 million.
This initiative is focused on improving Early Childhood Education (ECE) facilities and creating better learning spaces for young students.
Under this plan, each selected school will receive Rs250,000 to purchase essential items like books, furniture, and ECE learning kits.
The funds will be transferred directly to the school heads, who will be responsible for completing construction and procurement by the assigned deadline.
In the past, the government had built 5,000 ECE classrooms across Punjab, including 209 in Lahore.
However, more recent inspections revealed that 80% of schools have worn-out or damaged ECE kits that were originally provided three years ago.
In response, school principals have called for urgent replacement kits to ensure that young students can benefit from a more engaging and effective early education experience.
Officials say the latest construction and funding efforts aim to upgrade early learning infrastructure and equip students with better tools and spaces to support their development.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the Punjab Education Department has uncovered a massive scam involving 1.8 million ghost students fraudulently enrolled in government schools.
This deception has been draining an estimated Rs50 billion annually from the provincial education budget.
The fraud was uncovered in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), and authorities are now working to rectify records and prevent future misuse of education funds.