ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: President General Pervez Musharraf has said education is no more a neglected sector in the country and the government is striving to bring about improvements through various measures.

Speaking at an international conference on the Future of Schools and Education here on Wednesday, he said the government would increase budgetary allocation for this vital sector from 2.7-4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said the annual budgetary allocations for higher education had recorded an increase from Rs600 million to over Rs40 billion. The government, he said, would keep increasing funds for education every year.

The president said the development of education sector was government’s priority, adding that an Authority for Technical Education was being set up to create skilled workforce to meet the industrial needs of the country.

The government, he said, aimed at improving the adult literacy rate, adding that the National Commission of Human Development was playing an important role in this regard and had already reached out to 40 districts in the country. It would cover the entire country through its volunteers in the next few years.

President Musharraf said the government was aware of the need to improve the primary and secondary education system. He urged the Beacon House System of Education, which organized this national conference, to sponsor schools in the quake-hit areas and to adopt public sector schools in order to improve them.