PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Government distributed Rs 110 million among 240 best government schools principals and teachers to appreciate their outstanding performance in the line of teaching and schools management on World Teachers Day here on Wednesday. Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was the chief guest while KP Chief Minister Parvaiz Khattak, Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Muhammad Atif Khan, Speaker Asad Qaiser, members of provincial assembly and male and female teachers were present in the programme held at Chief Minister’s House. A total of 240 principals and 1,680 male and female teachers were awarded with prizes on the occasion. KP Government had distributed Rs 50 million last year while this year the amount was more than double as Rs 110 million distributed among outstanding teachers and principals. PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that around 35,000 students have been switched from private schools to government schools in the province due to adequate reforms in the education sector. “Development is not subjected only to construct buildings and inaugurate mega schemes such as metros and roads but it means to invest on the human development particularly on education”, Imran Khan added. He lashed out at the performance of the previous government in education sector and termed it as a poor system. Imran Khan appreciated the measures taken by PTI Government and their long standing out come that paved way for students from poor families to get standard education in the government-run schools. “Intellectuals and great personalities of the country studied at the government schools but due to short term policies of the previous politicians, the system of the government schools had become limited to the poor class of the society,” the Kaptaan added. He also said that the first priority of the government under the constitution of the country was to give free and standard education to every child of the country. Imran added that strong institutions played pivotal role in successful governments and always operated its machinery to meet the criteria for merit. “KP Government, since its inception in the province was working to empower the institutions of the province through bringing certain reforms such as in education, health and police”, Khan maintained. He said that the cash prizes would encourage the teachers’ community in the province and it would have better impact on the performance of the teacher in the classroom. Khan suggested teachers to work hard and give lesson of truth to their pupils. He also shared his dream of new Pakistan and said that if his government comes in the country he would more focus on education and increases the salaries of teachers in first priority. KP Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Muhammad Atif Khan shared that PTI-led provincial government had appointed 40,000 new teachers in its three years while another 15,000 teachers would be hired in the coming year to overcome the shortage of teachers. He said that KP Government signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the British Council for training more than 38,000 government school teachers on the modern lines. KP Chief Minister Parvaiz Khattak claimed that health and education have taken the center stage in the horizon of provincial government priorities. He said that parents trust over the government schools was building up with each passing day and the ratio of the enrollment indicated that the PTI policies were working in right direction with positive impact. At the end Imran Khan distributed cash prizes among the best teachers and principals come from across the province.