'Ministries failed to increase literacy rate'

The government functionaries have failed so far in attaining 80 percent literacy rate. There are four ministries working in the country to enhance quality of education but unfortunately, no one has done enough practically for the promotion and literacy rate, which remains lower than 40 percent.
These observations were made at a seminar organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industries (FPCCI) at Federation House, here on Friday.
FPCCI President Chaudhry Muhammad Saeed said that the literacy rate is not encouraging enough and the government should concentrate on doing something in practical terms rather than only making policies.
He said that the federation would provide training to internees and in this regard, all universities have been approached. The FPCCI chief lamented that teachers are not given due respect, which is also a cause of decline in standard of education.
Chaudhry Saeed requested the Higher Education Commission to provide funds for making e-library in the Federation House, which would be available for all for free.
FPCCI former president S M Munir said that there was need to improve quality of education rather than increasing the number of students. Several graduates were looking for jobs but their standard of education was not up to the mark, he added. He asked the institutes to impart IT education according to world standard because several IT-qualified Pakistanis don't qualify for jobs in foreign countries due to low standard.
Mohammad Siddiq Sheikh, FPCCI Standing Committee Chairman, said that ten inter-provincial ministerial meeting were held but could not produce results for the betterment of education.
The government should take concrete steps for the improvement in standard of education because the country is rated third from the bottom in the list. And if the present situation continued the rating of the country would go further down, he added. Shahida Zaree, also a FPCCI member, gave brief presentation on the role of information technology in the education sector.