Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday terming children the ‘future builders of the nation’ said the government would provide maximum educational facilities to them.

Addressing the launch of mobile schools under the project ‘School on wheels’, he said the step would increase the literacy rate in the country, particularly in the rural areas.

In the first phase, the mobile schools consisting of eight buses will provide primary-level education to the children of Islamabad and adjoining areas.

The buses have been equipped with computers, desks, whiteboards, and LCDs, to create an effective teaching and learning environment.

Shehbaz Sharif said the government would increase the number of buses and expand the project to the rest of the country and Azad Kashmir.

He expressed satisfaction that the project would mainstream the children in rural areas who faced the unavailability of modern educational facilities.

Also, he said, the mobile library would promote a reading culture among the children.

He said education was a vital factor to make a society developed and cultured.

The prime minister on the occasion interacted with the schoolchildren and encouraged them to take interest in learning.

Earlier, the prime minister launched the countrywide Spring plantation campaign by planting a sapling.

He urged civil society and the general public to participate in the plantation drive to save future generations.

He pointed out that cities were transforming into concrete jungles and the environment needed urgent rectification through the plantation of trees.