BEIJING – Prime Minister Imran Khan’s decision to convert Prime MinisterHouse into the Islamabad National University has demonstrated his firmdetermination to rejuvenate the country through education.
Education is an important driving force for human progress and nationaldevelopment and his government is committed to developing education as apriority agenda, Cheng Xizhong, a visiting professor of the SouthwestUniversity of Political Science and Law and senior fellow with the ChaharInstitute said on Saturday.”The illiteracy rate is too high in Pakistan. But this is not a problemthat has arisen just now.
This is a problem that has accumulated over many years. This problem canonly be solved through long-term efforts of the whole society”, he said ina statement. He said since Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power, he hasput special emphasis on the development of education and made the fightagainst illiteracy as one of the four major tasks in 2019.
“This shows that the Pakistani government has realized the importance ofeducation for the improvement of national quality, socio-economicdevelopment and progress in science and technology”, Xizhong said..He said, China now implements nine-year compulsory education and in somebig cities, 12-year compulsory education has been introduced. This does notinclude three years of pre-school education before the age of six, heexpressed.
“In my opinion, according to the current situation, Pakistan may implementat least nine-year compulsory education,” he added.
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He remarked that with the development of the CPEC, many Chinese companiesnow employ local Pakistanis and short-term technical training is arrangedbefore they take up their jobs. People have different qualities and it isclosely related to how much basic education they have received. Only withuniversal basic education for all, can the quality of the whole nation beimproved.
Only when a country has a large contingent of talents who have receivedhigher education can it merge with modern high and new technologies.Although Pakistan is still underdeveloped, it will eventually enter the eraof science and technology, industrialization and modernization. PrimeMinister Imran Khan may foresee the coming of this era, so he puts specialemphasis on education priority and intensifies knowledge preparation toembrace this era, he added.
