LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday said that the new generation is the custodian of the future of Pakistan, adding that is why historic steps have been taken by the government to secure the future of the youth.
He said this while talking to a delegation of students who called on him here at the CM House.
The chief minister said that a revolutionary project related to computer labs had been completed with speed. Through this project, the younger generation was fast equipping itself with the latest trends of knowledge to adjust to the changing needs of the time, he added.
Similarly, the government was also pursuing the project of distributing laptops among talented students on merit, he said, while adding that so far millions of laptops, costing billions of rupees have been given to the students, along with arranging visits of position-holder students to world-renowned universities.
CM Shehbaz said it was important that both male and female students belonging to all the federating units were included in the programmes of youth development, adding that the steps taken by the PML-N-led Punjab government have promoted the cause of national unity and cohesion among the youth.
Shehbaz said that Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) had been established to help continue the education of economically-deprived but bright students. Millions of students were benefitting from this educational fund which was indeed a historic step to empower the youth through education, he added. He also said that it was optimistic that thousands of students were playing their role in the process of national development in their respective fields.
He further said that Pakistan was lucky that more than 60 per cent of its population consisted of the youth, adding that the youth was a ray of hope for national development as its abilities could be utilised for collective wellbeing.
Moreover, the CM said that the journey of development would be accelerated by empowering the youth of the country. That is why our government had started unique programmes to help develop and empower the youth, he added. He also said that hundreds of students were learning the Chinese language in China and a delegation of students was also sent to Turkey to study the Turkish language.
The chief minister said the government was moving rapidly towards achieving the goal of educating two million youth in different professional skills, while adding that millions of students have been given technical education under the Punjab Skills Development Programme.
He said that merit reigned supreme in Punjab and its supremacy had been ensured in all the sectors of life. The idols of recommendations, hooliganism, nepotism and corruption have been broken down and merit had been ensured in all the programmes related to youth development, he added.
Furthermore, the CM said that talented and eligible people have been included in different departments through merit as it was the only way forward for progress. He said that the journey of national development could be fulfilled by making the youth the engine of development. The steps taken for bringing improvements in the education sector have yielded positive results and no dearth of resources would ever hamper the process of education and training of the youth in future as well, concluded the chief minister.