LAHORE - Provincial Education Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman has said that Punjab government is following a policy of giving all sort of support to private sector schools for achieving the target of 100 percent literacy rate in the province.
Addressing annual prize distribution ceremony organised by Qazi Group of Schools at a local hotel on Tuesday, the education minister said as per the government policy the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) was helping 1.2 million poor students in the private schools who could not afford to pay fees or buy books.
The ceremony was also attended by Punjab Minister for Agriculture and livestock Ahmed Ali Aulakh, PML-N MNA Ch Naseer Ahmed Bhutta, MPA Ramzan Siddique Bhatti, MPA Mian Nasir Ahmed, MA Amina Aulfat, secretary education (Schools) Punjab Aslam Kamboh, BISE Lahore chairman Allah Bukhsh Malik, parents, students and teachers of Qazi Group of Schools.
The Minister appreciated the school where 9,000 students were said to be studying in its various branches and several of them annually get positions in BISE exams and scholarships.
The minister gave awards to the schools’ topers students. Student Fareha Jalil was given gold medal for getting first position in the Urdu essay writing contest organised by the Punjab government at division level.
Meanwhile, addressing a workshop at a local hotel on the elimination of corporal punishment, PEF Monitoring and Evaluation Director Samina Nawaz said that the Foundation has established institutional mechanism in its partner schools to save the students from corporal punishment.
Under the system in addition to setting up school committees, the complaint cell established at Monitoring and Evaluation Department responds immediately to the complaints of corporal punishment, she added. 
The workshop arranged with the collaboration of an international non-governmental organisation Plan International was attended by school owners, principals and teachers. Samina Nawaz said that Punjab Education Foundation has introduced the concept of fear-free education in its partner schools for achieving the targets of child-friendly schooling. She said that corporal punishment is extremely harmful for the physical and mental health of children due to which they lose their self-confidence.
Manager Advocacy Plan International in Pakistan Syed Safdar Raza, Programme Support Manager Farah Naz, Learning Advisor Sofia Aziz and Child rights Advisor Samina Sardar also spoke on the occasion.