Education budget being increased, says minister

LAHORE: The two-day seventh international conference on education under the theme of “Research and Development in Education for Sustainable Future” started at University of Education, Township, on Wednesday.

Educationists, scholars and delegates from around the globe are attending the conference. Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raja Yasir Hamyun was the chief guest at the opening ceremony of the moot. Total 134 research papers will be presented by the national and international scholars during the conference.

The minister said the government attached great importance to education and it was committed to increasing education budget every year according to requirements. He said the University of Education and its leadership deserved the credit for holding useful conferences. He said there was dire need to hold such conferences to create the culture of research and development in a country like Pakistan.

While welcoming the guests and scholars, University of Education Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Rauf-i-Azam said the university had been organising international conferences on education under different themes for the last seven years. He said, “The theme of conference of this year is very interesting and of highly important nature, as we know this fact very well that research and development is vital for the human beings and it goes without saying that research and development cannot take place without education. If we want to have a bright future, we will have to give top priority to education to ensure a sustainable future for our next generations.”

Prof. Dr. Rauf-i-Azam said in the present era of competition only those nations would touch the peak of glory which held the education their most sacred responsibility. In the ever-changing world, there is a need to rethink education and research priorities.

The conference is an attempt to generate a scholarly debate on the issues significant to education for sustainable future. The VC said it was essential to reconnect the development and research in education for a sustainable future. “This requires a comprehensive integration of various concepts regarding sustainability into curriculum, assessment and research. There is a need to review all educational, teaching and research programmes,” he said, adding, “The conference will prove to be a step forward towards the solution to our educational problems.”

The conference’s organizer, Dr Ayaz Muhammad Khan, said the main purpose of holding the conference was to find out practical and feasible solution to the educational problems faced in Pakistan.