Staff Reporter
Lahore:Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has announced the distribution of eighty thousand scholarships next year and establishment of more Centers of Excellence across the province. She was addressing the inauguration ceremony of High Achievers Scholarship and Laptop Scheme Phase-II in Chakwal today.The Chief Minister further announced the establishment of six thousand STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) labs and Schools of Eminence across the province.She revealed that 118,000 Core i7 laptops will be distributed to students and students from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa would also receive scholarships and laptops under this initiative.Maryam Nawaz also inaugurated Punjab’s first Center of Excellence School in Chakwal, constructed over forty kanals of land at a cost of 650 million rupees. The school is equipped with facilities surpassing private institutions.She mentioned that during recent flood crisis, the entire provincial cabinet, administration and herself worked tirelessly to aid flood victims, unlike other provinces that only held press conferences.She underscored that crime rate in Punjab has decreased after establishment of CCD.Chief Minister Punjab stressed that all scholarships and laptops are being distributed strictly on merit. No student received any benefit due to any recommendation or political affiliation.Over 27,000 applications for laptops were received from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan alone.The Chief Minister reiterated her commitment to introducing Artificial Intelligence and Robotics education in Punjab. She cited her visits to China and Japan and pledged to provide similar or better educational environments in educational institutions across Punjab.She said that state-of-the-art cancer treatment facilities and modern Co-Ablation machines are being introduced in Rawalpindi division and a state-of-the-art cancer treatment center has become functional in Sargodha. Maryam Nawaz revealed that ninety thousand houses are being built within just eight months under ‘Apni Chhat Apna Ghar’ initiative’.
