Government to develop knowledge-based economy: Musharraf
LAHORE (December 21 2006): The government is striving to create a synergy between education and requirements of the industry so as to develop knowledge-based economy in the country. This was stated by President General Pervez Musharraf while speaking at the fifth convocation of Government College University (GCU), here on Wednesday.
Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, Education Minister Imran Masood and GCU Lahore Vice-Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab were present on this occasion.
The President said that nine engineering and science and technology universities were being set up in different parts of the country with the assistance of leading universities of the developed nations like Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Italy, China and Korea to help produce world class technical manpower. "No absolute sovereignty exists in the world, as sovereignty is directly dependent on economic stability. Therefore, it is imperative to strengthen economy in order to fortify sovereignty of the country," he said, and added that any country, which is dependent on others, cannot claim complete sovereignty.
"Our textile sector constitutes 60 percent of total exports, and if the US and Western countries stop buying our products, textile sector would collapse and workforce would lose their jobs," he added.
He said: "The GDP of all 57 Muslim countries, which produce 70 percent of world's oil and 50 percent of gas is half of Japan and less than Germany. A very small country having no natural resources is earning over $400 billion. On the contrary, Pakistan has potential to exploit in the field of gemstones but, without cutting and polishing technology which adds hundred times value, could not take advantage of this natural resource.
"Similarly, despite the fact that we are fifth milk producing country, we are importing butter, yogurt and other milk products. Now it is time to run very fast and develop our human resource. We have enhanced budgetary allocation for education sector from 2.7 percent of GDP to 4 percent, which constitutes Rs 150 billion. We also need to make additional allocation for this vital sector."
He said: "Pakistan is a 'leadership failure state' because the previous leaders could not harness human and natural resources potential that we had. The society as well as previous governments failed to develop Pakistan of 160 million population and huge natural resources. The previous leaders should have built Kalabagh Dam and Bahsha Dam and resolved NFC award and addressed issues concerning provincial autonomy and grievances of Balochistan. The present government has adopted the policy of long-term gain for which we can bear short-term losses."
He said that the standard of primary and secondary education is pathetic and realistic approach needed to be adopted to overcome this challenging issue. "The government is now aware of this problem that where we stand in education," he added.
He said that the government was also improving literacy rate through universalism of education so that the children should have access to primary school within a range of one kilometre. The National Commission for Human Resource has been assigned the task of achieving 85 percent literacy rate by the year 2010. The government is also focusing on improving teachers' potential, curriculum and examination system.
He called for learning geography and said that this subject had gained significant importance because everything, including geo-politics, geo-economic, geo-strategic, relate to learning of geography. "Now relations, be it political or be it economics, are developed on the basis of geography of a country," he added.
President Musharraf said that unemployment was also a problem of this country, which could be redressed by promoting technical education and vocational training centres. "Information technology and computer sciences are market-driven subjects and we must look at the market to decide about acquiring education. The students should avoid going for FA/BA/MA and Ph D, which provide nothing except frustration. We will also have to look for the area of science and technology in which gap is gradually widening in comparison with the developed countries," he said.
He said the government is going to set up nine engineering universities in the country which would help save foreign exchange being spent at present on students for studying abroad. Work has already been started on universities being set up by Pakistan and France in Karachi, by Pakistan and Austria in Lahore and by Pakistan and Sweden in Sialkot, while work would be started on all universities by the year 2008. Out of nine universities, four including one in Multan would be set up in Punjab, three in Sindh and one each in NWFP and Balochistan, he said.
Talking about Ph D education, he said that Pakistan was producing only a couple of dozen Ph Ds, while the Higher Education Commission has planned to produce 1500 Ph Ds by the year 2009-2010, for which budget allocation has been enhanced from Rs 600 million to Rs 28 billion.
He said that corruption and nepotism are problems of serious concern, as in their presence no system can flourish. He lamented that a group has spread the misconception that Islam is in danger in Pakistan, "which is totally wrong". "We just want a tolerant society and no one should be allowed to impose his own point of view on others. This is the time to dictate peace that is for the benefit of Pakistan in particular and for Muslim Ummah in general."
The Pakistani nation has to show to the world that to whom they want to give power in elections 2007, either to moderate and progressive forces or extremists forces, he added.
Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool said that number of male students in 17 public sector and 16 private sector universities has been increased from 41,000 to 100,000, and female students from 12,000 to 40,000 in just six years. Similarly, the education budget has been enhanced from Rs 1 billion to Rs 11 billion during the period. In order to promote higher education in remote areas, the provincial government is setting up campuses from Chakwal to Rahim Yar Khan. Besides harmonising academic calendar and improving curriculum, the examination system has also been revamped and improved to make it more transparent. However, the research being done in the universities is not included in international ranking, "and that is our ultimate goal" to be achieved, he added.
G.C University Vice Chancellor Dr Khalid Aftab presented the university report.
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