Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Friday said ILM Pakistan Movement has been launched with the objective to empower educational process of the country.
It will ultimately improve students’ academic achievement, and attitudes towards civic responsibility, respect for diversity and tolerance.
The launching ceremony was held by Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms was chief guest on the occasion.
Ahsan Iqbal thanked HEC for hosting the launch of the ILM Pakistan Movement. He said that this was the age of knowledge revolution and it was imperative to strengthen the knowledge economy in order to compete in the comity of nations.
Congratulating the nation on Independence Day, he said freedom of knowledge and intellectual growth in a society ensured real independence.
Saluting the efforts and sacrifices of the founding fathers, he said that they struggled for creation of the country despite meagre resources.
He mentioned Science Talent Farming Scheme for students, endowment fund for 50,000 talented students, standardization of examination system, national curriculum council and creation of knowledge corridor with partner countries as the government’s commitment towards prioritizing education.
“To create harmony, we have to embrace the global challenges of knowledge revolution”, he added.
“If we compare the conditions in which Pakistan was created to the present situation when we have all kinds of resources available for development, we see that it is much easier for us to achieve our targets provided we have self-belief, positive thinking and a future vision that provides us a roadmap for development.”
Elaborating Government’s Vision 2025, Ahsan Iqbal said that knowledge was an important component of this Vision and the Government was ensuring complete participation of academics and researchers.
He said that the explosion of information was exponentially growing in the world and “unless we have the ability to innovate and embrace inventions, we will not be able to compete in the knowledge revolution.”
He said that through launch of ILM Movement, the Government will further strengthen the holistic framework for achieving knowledge objectives set in the Vision 2025.
Baleegh-ur-Rahman, minister for Education and Training said that the destination was a brighter and safer Pakistan and that can only be achieved through knowledge revolution.
He said that Vision 2025 provided a comprehensive roadmap for aligning knowledge base with socio-economic demands. He appreciated the Planning Division for taking special care of the educational development initiatives. He also mentioned successful launching of the National Curriculum Council, which was aimed to develop basic standards for curriculum development in all federating units of the country.
He said Pakistan will also adopt Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 along with other nations at United Nations in September this year and that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will represent Pakistan on this occasion.
HEC Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmed also underlined significance of knowledge for a nation’s growth and appreciated the initiatives for development of education at all levels.