Call to increase education budget from 1.7% to 4%

LAHORE:Former Provincial Minister and UMT President Ibrahim Murad, while highlighting the issues and challenges faced by the education sector, has said that quality education is the key to economic development.

He emphasised that Pakistan's education budget should be increased from 1.7% to 4% in line with international standards. There are rare investment opportunities for increasing literacy rates in Pakistan.

According to a press release, Ibrahim Murad, while speaking at a programme based on the education budget, said that a self-accountability system should be introduced in public universities so that national wealth could be used properly.

President UMT said that now the time has come to make public universities self-sufficient by using the available resources in the best possible way so that the burden on national wealth could be reduced. He further said that the private sector has played an exemplary role in the field of education where the provision of high-quality research resources at a low cost is being made possible.

The former provincial minister Ibrahim Murad said that the government should provide resources to those universities from where a large number of students were graduating and playing a role in national development. A system should also be established for the training of university heads and teachers so that individuals can be appointed to positions on merit.