Punjab to spend Rs 750b on education sector

LAHORE, Jun 16 (APP): The Punjab government has allocated Rs.750 billion with Rs 63.30 billion ADP (Annual Development Plan) for education sector for the fiscal year 2026-27.

In his budget speech on the floor of Punjab Assembly here Tuesday, Punjab Finance Minister Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman said that education is among the foremost development priorities of the government and in the fiscal year 2026-27, Rs. 750 billion is proposed for education sector, which includes Rs. 63.30 billion in development expenditures and Rs. 686.80 billion in non-development expenditures. This allocation, over 15 percent higher, aims to improve educational infrastructure, promote modern skills, provide digital facilities, and expand access to quality education.

Under the CM Punjab Laptop Programme, an initiative costing Rs. 27 billion was launched to provide 110,000 modern laptops, under which 42,000 laptops have already been distributed in the fiscal year 2025-26.

Rs. 15 billion has been allocated for the Honhaar Scholarship Programme, benefiting 185,000 students. Under the School Meal Programme across 13 districts, milk packed with nutrition is being provided to 1.1 million children at a cost of Rs. 7 billion. This programme was launched keeping in mind the fact that 44 percent of children in the province suffer from malnutrition. For the upcoming fiscal year, Rs. 4 billion is proposed for this programme.

Similarly, under PEIMA, mapping of additional classes, missing facilities in schools, restoration of dangerous buildings, and rooms is being carried out with the help of modern technology. A development programme of Rs. 40 billion was initiated for this in the fiscal year 2025-26.

The first-of-its-kind Autism School was established in Lahore at a cost of Rs. 670 million. Furthermore, in the upcoming fiscal year, Autism Schools will be established in every Division of Punjab at a cost of Rs. 4.50 billion. For this purpose, an amount of Rs. 1.90 billion has been allocated for the next fiscal year.

In continuation of this, a project costing Rs. 6.90 billion is being launched for the establishment of 244 IT Labs in colleges during the upcoming fiscal year, which will benefit more than 447,000 students. Furthermore, a total of Rs. 40 billion has been proposed for programmes like the Maryam Nawaz Sharif Center of Academic Leadership, Nawaz Sharif Centers of Excellence, and STEAM Laboratories, which will provide quality education to millions of children.

In partnership with the Private Sector under the Punjab Education Foundation and PEIMA, a programme for providing quality education is successfully underway. In the fiscal year 2025-26, under this programme, Rs. 50 billion has been spent, resulting in quality educational opportunities for 3.8 million children.