The Elementary and Secondary Education Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was taking concrete measures to ensure quality education and improve the learning environment in schools by providing them with required facilities including furniture. As part of such efforts, the spokesperson of the department told APP that hefty funds to the tune of Rs6 billion had been set aside for the provision of furniture at schools and it would be made available for around two million children shortly. Moreover, he said that the role of the Parent Teacher Council (PTC) had been made more productive and it had greater say in matters regarding ensuring quality education so that students could be properly geared up in line with modern day’s requirements. He said a good number of school leaders would be appointed to improve schools’ performance and in this regard their views and recommendations would be duly considered so as to effectively keep pace with the fast changing world in terms of provision of quality education to children. He said that education was a key to national prosperity and progress and the goal of sustainable development could be achieved by equipping every child with his basic right to education. In this regard, province-wide student enrollment drive had been started with an objective to bring maximum children to schools and currently a target of 800,000 children had been set to enroll in schools. Similarly, a second shift system had been launched in schools to promote education and enroll maximum children especially girls in far-flung areas. Initially, he said, 120 schools including 76 for girls students and 44 for boys had been selected in 16 settled districts across the province to start double shifts with focus on encouraging girls and dropout students especially at remote areas. He said that the first week had been slated for admission for the second shift programme and efforts would be made to bring maximum children to schools and provide them quality education, he added. He said that existing teachers at schools had been given the option to teach in second shifts and added that Parents-Teachers Councils had been assigned the task to arrange teachers as stopgap arrangement, adding the initiative would generate 704 employment opportunities. He said that the department was providing 7000 Rehmatul Lil Alameen Scholarships to assist the students from all the public sector on merit and need basis; the move would help promote education among the youth who were considered as future leaders of the country.