ISLAMABAD
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday announced to launch literacy movement along with a package of incentives to ensure maximum enrollment in schools.
Addressing a conference on unfinished agenda in education, Nawaz said there was consensus on the need to reform and modernise the education sector to bring it at par with national priorities and international standards.
The PM said the government was trying to achieve 100 percent literacy rate in three years. He said the government will double the education budget in four years.
The prime minister said a national plan of action has been launched recently in collaboration with the provinces to achieve the education related targets.
Education will also be made an important component of the government’s development programme, he added.
Nawaz said democracy was taking roots in the country. A smooth transition has taken place but the actual fruits have yet to reach the public. He said, “We want to strengthen democratic norms and this is possible only through education.”
The PM said investment in education is actually investment into the future of the country.
Emphasising on an education system compatible with knowledge-based economy, he said science and technology, including vocational training and information technology, must be made integral part of the education system.
He said, “Our education policy must prioritize the education of female. We must ensure women participation in the decision making process. Women are already playing a prominent role in the education sector and other fields of life.”
He said more than half of the country’s population was below 25 years of age and the future of the country was directly linked with their proper education. The prime minister said without education the demographic dividend will turn into a burden.
Separately, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Education Gordon Brown called on Nawaz.
Nawaz said, “An educated population is more law abiding, more respectful of the rights of others, a more efficient user of scarce resources, is more healthy and civic minded, and above all, is less prone to violence,”
The PM said the education was an important determinant of economic entrepreneurship, employability and productivity.
He said, “Currently literacy rate in Pakistan is 58 percent overall, but this is skewed towards males. Our effort is to bridge the gender gap.”
He appreciated the UN role in enhancing the cause of education and said Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) had played an important role in shaping international discourse on allocation of resources for key global priorities like “Education for All”.
Nawaz said Pakistan was committed to achieving the targets and indicators adopted by the UN General Assembly in the year 2000.
It is reassuring that the UN post-2015 development agenda focused on education, he added.
He said the government had launched the MDGs Accelerated Framework (MAF) under the National Plan of Action 2013-2016 with a view to accelerate progress towards achieving the MDGs on education.
Nawaz praised the role played by Gordon Brown in holding the international conference on education in Islamabad that would support the education sector in Pakistan.
He said Brown’s influence in the international and bilateral agencies would play an important role in Pakistan’s efforts to build the much needed infrastructure for providing quality education.
Brown praised the steps taken by the government for the promotion of education. He said it was encouraging to see that the government wants to double the budget of education.
Offering support to Pakistan to achieve the targets in the education sector, Brown said several countries and institutions are coming up with assistance to help Pakistan meet the goal of each child in the school.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and State Minister for Education Balighur Rehman also attended the meeting.