Call to increase education budget for economic growth

The government should focus on youth employment schemes, energy crisis and loan investment schemes and bring everyone in tax net in the next budget as a majority of youth is unsatisfied with the government initiatives. These views were expressed by the students of the different varsities in Jang Economic Session on ‘Budget 2014-15, Youth Expectations’, held here on Friday. The students who participated in the session included: Najeeb-ur-Rehman, Hamza Ijaz, Hina Somro, Imran Wajid, Sadaf Tuqeer, Madhia Maqsood, Faiqah Rizvi, and Khola Ansari. The event was hosted by Sikindar Lodhi. Najeeb-ur-Rehman said the youth are making great progress in IT but they do not have vast opportunities of growth in Pakistan. He called for allocating substantial amount for IT sector in the forthcoming budget so that youth could come forward with individual level projects. He also underlined the need to bring IT sector in the tax net. Hamza Ijaz said budget should provide relief to the common man. Admitting the importance of GDP growth for economic growth, he said local and foreign investment is necessary for the purpose. He called for education framework to increase education budget and provide loans on merit rather than spending money on laptops and other schemes. Hina Somro said the government is focusing on loan schemes and the youth can not get loans without recommendations. She called for creating job opportunities so that the skilled are able get respectful jobs and resolve their economic problems. She said budget allocations on health and education should be increased and utilization ensured. Imran Wajid said 64 per cent of Pakistani population consists of youth and this should be engaged for the constructive work. He called for uniform education system across the country and stressed the need to end the differences of classes in education system. He said practice should be also made part of theory. Sadaf Tuqeer called for maximum utilization of budget resources on development projects to increase exports of Pakistan and employment generation. She said national resources should not be wasted on youth festivals and other such activities. Education and health sectors should be prioritized, she said, calling for allocation of substantial amount for energy sector projects. Madhia Maqsood said there is no uniform education system in Pakistan, terming it a major hindrance in the way of economic growth. She said the government has ignored education sector, stressing the need for increasing allocation for education in the budget to improve education quality in government schools. Faiqah Rizvi said computer labs of universities and schools should be improved and better internet services provided for access to information, rather than launching laptop schemes. She called for improvement in primary level education for betterment of higher education. She said state is responsible for free education so it should provide it to every child. She said employment opportunities should be increased, rather than youth loan schemes. Khola Ansari said uniform education system cane play an important role in the economic growth of country. Source: Education News