The Punjab government has earmarked Rs 974 million under a capacity-building programme for 15,204 councils of primary and elementary schools in the province.

CM’s Taskforce on Elementary Education’s Chairman Raja Muhammad Anwar said here Sunday that the councils could be instrumental in improving and arranging missing facilities in public sector schools as well as ensuring quality education.

Under the capacity building programme, he added, primary and elementary schools are being given priority as this tier of education is the backbone of the system.

He impressed upon councils’ members to also mobilize local resources for the betterment of schools infrastructure in their areas, besides playing their active role in reconstruction of flood-hit schools.

The Chairman said the government was striving hard to ensure the provision of all missing facilities in the public schools in its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) besides enroling out-of-school children.