Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Saturday that there was no need for showing street power by the government in response to the show of strength by the opposition. "All the political parties are in power and they are playing their due role in strengthening democracy in the country," he added.
The Prime Minister was responding to media queries after attending the 125th Founder's Day celebrations at the Aitchison College. The premier ruled out any role of agencies in the successful public meeting of Imran Khan at Minar-e-Pakistan recently saying agencies are working under the control of the government.
The premier also said that extremist forces are bent upon snatching our values, our traditions and our identity while we are determined to foil their evil designs. "As I keep saying that it is not merely a physical fight rather it is battle of ideas," he said. Earlier, addressing the ceremony, the premier said that in order to comprehensively eliminate extremism and terrorism, we need to defeat the idea, which generates it in the first place. This is possible only when our intellectuals, educational institutions, religious scholars, academia and students come forward and play their due role.
Quoting Benazir Bhutto, the Prime Minister said: "An inferior idea can be killed by a superior idea only." It is in this context that it is incumbent upon the educational institutions such as Aitchison College to launch intellectual struggle against terrorism and extremism by inculcating the values of respect and harmony among its students.
Gilani said the present democratic government places greater emphasis on human resource development, innovation and entrepreneurship. We have tasked Higher Education Commission (HEC) to collaborate with the Universities and educational institutions to build a strong base for production of talented youth. The government, on its part, is committed to help the educated youth of Pakistan play their full role in the country's development.
He advised the students to keep hope and optimism as ideals. You have to keep pace with the demands of time and prepare yourself for future leadership roles. You should refuse to be cowed down by the impediments that lie in your way. Treat difficulties as challenges and have the determination to turn them into opportunities. Prepare yourself to meet the challenge of tomorrow. Make the best of your time here.
The Prime Minister said the passage of the 18th Amendment has made education precisely a provincial subject. After consultation with the provincial governments and other relevant stakeholders, the federal government prepared a comprehensive National Educational Policy 2009. Under this policy, it was agreed that each province will develop its own 'action plan', which shall commit to appropriately raising allocations for education, set priorities according to provincial needs and provide implementation strategies/processes with timeframe and key indicators; ensuring fulfilment of constitutional needs with respect to education and meeting the international commitments such as Education for All (EFA).
The 18th Amendment includes an important insertion of Article 25A making education compulsory for children. The main thrust of the policy remains on achieving the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015. Gender equality and bridging urban-rural divide are the areas of special focus of the Policy.
"Seeking education is not merely an abstract activity aimed at getting employment. Rather, education seeks to build character of individuals and produce responsible citizenry that is aware of its rights and duties. It is an ornament, which beautifies a nation and equips it with necessary capabilities to cope with the challenges of time. It helps in building up cultural ethos and preserving the national values and identity by transferring their knowledge to the next generations. I am happy to learn that Aitchison College has been playing this role commendably well," Gilani said.
He further said that what needs to be done is to harness the energies of our youth and put them into productive use through timely policy intervention and sustained political support. Establishment of linkages between our educational institutions and job markets is one way of making this happen. The promotion of industry-academia collaboration.
The Prime Minister said that in today's globalised world, knowledge has been acknowledged as an engine of growth and development. The challenges of the 21st century can be addressed adequately if our educational institutions encourage a sense of critical inquiry and a thirst for knowledge among the students. Our teaching institutions and universities must become the hub of research and creativity capable of offering fresh insights into the contemporary problems.
"Staggering developments in the field of science and technology have stunned the humankind. The countries have been left with little option but to invest in the fields of education and human resource development to stay afloat in today's world. Doing so is the only way to ensure and sustain socio-economic development. After the Chinese example, population should not be considered to be a burden anymore. Pakistan's demographic potential is huge with 63 percent of its population being under 25 years of age," Gilani said.