President promises 4% GNP allocation for education
From Zeeshan Mirza

KARACHI—The government plans to increase the allocation for primary education from 2.6 percent to four percent of the GNP. This was stated by President General Pervez Musharraf here on Monday.
He was speaking as chief guest at the inaugural ceremony of Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Centre at the Karachi University Campus. The President informed the gathering that increase in allocation for primary education from 2.6 to four percent of the GNP roughly means more than Rs 150 billion.
On the occasion, he emphasised the need for growth of country’s economy at a faster rate. “The economy of Pakistan has to be sustained and it has to grow at a fast rate that we have maintained now over the last three to four years,” President Gen. Musharraf remarked.
He pointed out that over the last three to four years, we are maintaining economic growth at the rate of seven percent and “this has to be maintained”. The President said the government would also be financing the establishment of nine universities of engineering, science and technology in the country to be set up with the help of developed countries.
This means expenditure of Rs 250 billion over the next 10 years, he added. Gen. Pervez Musharraf said in this endeavour for the promotion of education we need assistance from wherever (possible) and that is where philanthropic activity comes in.
“I seek the support of the people of Pakistan, those who are more endowed, those who have more resources”, he remarked adding that he knows that philanthropy is in our blood. The President said Pakistanis spend some Rs 70 to 90 billion on philanthropic activities.
He stated that this expenditure is unguided and that we need to know where to place the money. President Musharraf pointed out that this is a knowledge driven world and the basis of the economy is knowledge, as the knowledge happens to be in the engineering and science and technology.a The President described the inauguration of Latif Ebrahim Jamal National Science Information Centre as a very historic occasion. On the occasion, he paid special homage to the memory of Hussein Ebrahim Jamal and Latif Ebrahim Jamal. Gen. Musharraf also commended the efforts of their sons for carrying forward the mission of their father and uncle and for contributing so much for Pakistan.
He also pointed towards the manifestation of growing interest in philanthropy in Pakistan which is also inclined especially towards science, technology and engineering which is the requirement and demand of the day for Pakistan. The President said this is very much in line with the policy of the government.
He explained that our policy is very clear and that it is based on the realisation that this is a knowledge-based world and that without knowledge the economy cannot grow. Giving a comparison, President Gen. Musharraf said the total GDP of the whole Muslim world is hardly dollars two trillion whereas the GDP of Germany alone is far more than this and that of Japan is dollars 5.1 trillion inspite of the fact that Japan has no natural resources.