July 5, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 4,1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 4: The people are more concerned about the quality of education at an affordable price than dress code in academic institutions, Education Minister Zobaida Jalal said here on Friday.

“What we need today as a nation, is the commitment on part of the government as well as the public to make education accessible to all,” she said while speaking at the launching ceremony of the Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resources at Army Public College of Management Sciences.

Ms Jalal said the students were also least interested in the introduction of “Shalwar Kameez” instead of trousers and shirts in the educational institutions.

She said the government was committed to imparting basic education to the citizens. That is why, the government has been supportive of endeavours and enterprises in the education sector.

In addition to this, it intends to develop human resource, which is evident from the fact that the budgetary allocations for the education sector have been enhanced, she said.

The minister said: “The present day global transition posed a number of challenges to us as a nation. Therefore, it is essential to be alive to the latest trends in education and incorporate them into our education system.”

It is of paramount importance to impart education that is relevant to the needs of the present-day world, she said, adding that this was the reason why government did away with the obsolete curriculum — a step that would help eliminate the use of books with outdated information.

“Our education system was operating in isolation and resultantly, in the majority of the cases, the new entrants in the market had to learn afresh the necessary skills and relevant knowledge as per the job requirement. They even had to learn it the hard way,” she observed.

In such cases, the industry suffers as it invests time, money and other resources to bring the employees to the minimal level of productivity — a process that compromises the efficiency and productivity of the industry. Eventually, Ms Jalal said, the entire industrial and economic wheel came to a grinding halt.