ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training in a meeting held here on Tuesday recommended to increase the wages of Basic Education Community Schools’ (BECS) teachers from Rs 5000 upto Rs 8000 at least. The committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Col (R) Dr Amirullah Marwat. The committee members observed that 12304 BECS’ schools imparting education to 502,526 students were playing vital role in enhancing literacy rate of the country. The committee expressed annoyance over low wages of Rs 5000 being paid to the teachers of BECS project and said, “billions of rupees are spent on the projects like metro bus while the teachers who are educating the future generations are deprived of their due right”. The committee members also assured the Director General, Directorate General of BECS, Ghulam Qadir Khan to raise the issue of BECS teachers salaries on the floor of assembly. Dr Amirullah Marwat said BECS project is an innovative initiative due to its characteristics including low cost, accessibility, community ownership, gender equality and community ownership. Therefore, it is essential to enhance the salaries of the teachers so that they can pay more dedication toward educating the out of schools children. State Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Muhammad Baligh ur Rehman informed the committee that the merger of National Training Bureau (NTB) and National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) was also in its final stages. The summary of merger of these two departments has been sent to the Prime Minister for approval, he said. The minister also informed the committee that the Quranic teaching will be made compulsory as part of syllabus through an Act of Parliament soon. The minister urged the officials of the relevant departments to join hands for enrolling six million (4-9 years aged) out of school children on emergency basis. Executive Director, NAVTTC, Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema briefed the committee about the functions, performance and future targets of the commission. He said the commission has set targets to establish Skill Development University in capital, increase enrolment up to 20 percent, establish state of the art institutions at federal and provincial levels and also institutions for training of trainers. The meeting was attended by MNAs including Dr. Shazia Sobia, Dr. Imran Khattak, Shahida Rehmani, Amra Khan, Dr. Nikhat Shakeel Khan and officials of the concerned ministries.