June 1, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 4, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 31: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday announced a 29 per cent increase in the education sector’s budget outlay besides promising an increase in teachers’ salaries.

He was addressing at the concluding session of a two-day National Education Conference here.

He said the nation expected more from teachers as it offered them better working conditions despite its scarce resources.

Mr Aziz stressed the need to adhere to religious values while seeking modern knowledge and skills and said education was the biggest asset of a nation, adding that knowledge deficit was more dangerous than fiscal deficits.

He said the government was aware about its responsibility, adding that the quantum of investment in education was directly proportional to the country’s progress.

The prime minister said he was disappointed over the education department’s chronic failure to spend its development funds allocated in the budget.

Expressing dissatisfaction over dismal domestic literacy rate, he said it was very low even when compared with the coverage of education in the central Asian republics.

Education, Mr Aziz said, was essential as it allowed people to think, encouraged their innate creativity and opened up their minds to new ideas besides allowing them to keep abreast with modern day developments and ensuring better future for the nation.

Highlighting the shortage of skilled manpower in the country, the prime minister called for opening up more vocational and skill training centres, saying that there was a shortage of trained workers in the construction sector. He also stressed the need for providing job opportunities for trained workers.