Warning — reported ended: Zewar-e-Taleem was reported ended by Punjab cabinet decision in March 2026. PSPA’s programme page terms below are historical unless 1221 or the school confirms payments are still being made. Do not rely on this post as proof that a payment is currently due, and do not pay anyone claiming to activate or restore it.
In many villages in southern and central Punjab, the reason a girl left school after primary was rarely ability — it was cost, distance, and the quiet calculation that her time was needed at home. Zewar-e-Taleem, run by the Punjab Social Protection Authority (PSPA), was a small but steady counterweight: a monthly stipend tied to staying in school, paid to girls in government schools in selected low-literacy districts.
Table of Contents
What the stipend was worth
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Amount | Rs. 1,000 per month |
| Paid | Quarterly — Rs. 3,000 for a full quarter |
| Who | Girls in classes 6 to 10 in government schools |
| Condition | At least 80% attendance, confirmed by the School Education Department |
| Payment check | Biometric verification |
The quarterly timing mattered for household planning. A family should not have expected Rs. 1,000 every month in hand; the money arrived as a quarterly payment once the school’s attendance report had been accepted. A quarter with patchy attendance could therefore mean a delayed or missing payment, even for a girl who was enrolled.
Districts covered — read the list, not the headline number
The PSPA programme page named these districts: Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Bhakkar, Chiniot, Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhang, Kasur, Khanewal, Kot Addu, Layyah, Lodhran, Muzaffargarh, Okara, Pakpattan, Rajanpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Vehari. That is 17 names, although the page’s own opening line said 16 districts — Kot Addu, a newer district, is the likely reason for the mismatch. Go by the named list, not the headline count. Lahore was not covered, and neither were Faisalabad, Rawalpindi or Multan. If your district was not named, this programme gave no stipend for your daughter, however strong her attendance was.
There was no separate application form to hunt for
This is where most families wasted time. The PSPA page described no online application form for Zewar-e-Taleem. Girls enrolled through the School Education Department’s annual enrolment drive received the stipend after biometric verification. In practice, that meant the starting point was your daughter’s government school, not a website: enrol her, keep her attendance up, and ask the school how her record was being reported. Anyone selling a Zewar-e-Taleem registration form, or charging a fee to “activate” the stipend, was not part of the official process.
When the stipend stopped
- When a girl finished Class 10, she left the programme after that academic session.
- When a girl dropped out of school, she was excluded.
- When attendance fell below the 80% threshold for a quarter, that quarter’s payment was at risk, because release depended on the department’s attendance report.
Put simply, a girl who entered in Class 6 and stayed in school could be supported for up to five school years under the programme’s rules — but every quarter had to be earned again through attendance.
What to do if a payment did not arrive
First, ask the school’s head teacher for the attendance figure reported for that quarter; that report, not a parent’s complaint, is what released the money. Then, if the record looked right and the payment was still missing, call the social protection helpline on 1221, which PSPA’s own homepage presents as its 24-hour helpline for programme eligibility, complaints and cash-out agent details. Keep the girl’s school record and any payment message to hand when you call, and do not share CNIC details with anyone who contacts you first claiming to be from the programme.
Frequently asked questions
Could I apply online for Zewar-e-Taleem?
No separate online application form was described on the PSPA programme page. Enrolment happened through the school enrolment drive, followed by biometric verification.
Was my daughter eligible if she studied in a private school?
No. The programme covered girls in government schools only, in the listed districts, in classes 6 to 10.
Did the stipend continue into college after Class 10?
No. Girls were removed from the programme after completing Class 10. For the next stage, look at college and university support instead, such as the PEEF scholarship for Punjab students. Younger siblings in school may separately be covered by the federal BISP education stipend for BISP families.
Rs. 1,000 a month would not transform a household budget, and this post does not pretend otherwise. What it could do, quarter by quarter, was make it a little easier for a family in a listed district to keep a daughter in school through the years when dropout risk was highest. If that described your family, the practical step was always her school — and, given the reported March 2026 ending, the first step now is to confirm on 1221 or at the school whether any payment is still being made before believing any promise about this stipend. As ever on this site, the aim is to explain the programme plainly — we are not PSPA, and the school and the 1221 helpline remain the final word on an individual case.
