Ahaan,
As Punjab Govt. have already declared ‘free education’, this time is NWFP. I sincerely hope, Sindh and Baluchistan follow the same suit. Ameen to that. 
PESHAWAR: The NWFP cabinet on Tuesday decided to provide free education up to Matriculation in all government-run educational institutions in the province.
It also decided to introduce Urdu as official language in the province.
Ministers and high-ranking government officials attended the cabinet meeting held at the Frontier House here with Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani in the chair.
The decision of free education would provide an opportunity to the candidates of both English and Urdu medium educational institutions to prove their mettle.
The cabinet approved a new posting/transfer policy in the larger interest of the government employees of the province. Matters pertaining to improvement of working of Revenue Department were also discussed in detail. The cabinet decided to set up a commission to review the affairs of revenue and formulate its recommendations in order to streamline the existing working of the department on modern lines.
The chief minister on the occasion directed that in future all government officers as well as ministers would bear the expenses of their visits to different areas of the province by themselves.
The chief minister further ordered that no DCO and Tehsildar would compel any Patwari to make arrangements for the visits of any officer or minister nor would arrange public meetings. The directives of the chief minister would take effect from Tuesday.
The cabinet decided that since the provincial government had already set up a commission for Islamisation in the province, therefore, a decision in this regard would be made in the light of the recommendations of the said commission. Presently the commission is reviewing the recommendations of Islamic Ideological Council, related to NWFP.
The cabinet decided to allow both options to the candidates for taking all provincial, professional and competitive examinations in Urdu and English.
The chief minister was appreciative of the Structural Adjustment Programme, funded by the World Bank under which projects for improved service delivery system had been launched in the province. However, he directed to bring some sort of transparency in the process of developmental projects under the said programme.
Referring to the provision of free education in public sector educational institutions, the chief minister said poverty was one of the basic factors hindering the promotion of education. He said the poor could not afford fee, purchase of books and arrange uniform for their kids. Therefore, he directed to overhaul the Zakat distribution system so that the poor could be benefited. Similarly under Zakat system, the poor and deserving should be supported so that they could stand on their own feet.
The chief minister said the federal government would release Rs 250 million as a share of NWFP in the Zakat fund. He hoped the decisions taken by his cabinet would prove fruitful for the future of the province. However, these decisions should be followed by actions, he added.