Faisalabad (Pakistan Khabar): Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has said that no country can progress without education, adding that young people must play their role in the country’s development and that attention must be given to training alongside education.
Addressing a ceremony, Ahsan Iqbal said that due to political instability, several projects could not be completed in the past, while education must be taken to every household to reduce illiteracy.
He said Pakistan’s literacy rate stands at 63 percent, compared with more than 90 percent globally. Around 25 million children in the country are out of school, one reason being that parents do not fully understand the importance of education.
The federal minister said Pakistan also faces negligence in the area of health. The country’s population growth rate has reached 2.55 percent, and development is difficult at such a rate.
Ahsan Iqbal said that instead of focusing solely on treating diseases, attention must be given to preventing them by improving social attitudes. “We have to decide whether we want to produce a generation of hungry and uneducated children or raise a healthy and educated generation.”
He said the first five years of a child’s life are extremely important because approximately 90 percent of brain development is completed during this period. Therefore, children must be provided with the best possible environment and appropriate training from an early age.