LAHORE, Dec 29: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said the syllabi and curricula are being improved and efforts made to dispel confusion over the medium of instruction. He was speaking at the 17th annual convocation of LUMS here on Thursday. He said: “There is no denying the fact that Urdu is our national language and English our strength. We, therefore, need to strengthen both. It has been decided that some subjects at the primary level must be taught both in English and Urdu.”

About the state of higher education, he said it was altogether ignored in the past. “It was shameful for a country with nuclear and missile technology to have a few dozen PhDs back in 1999. Now we have more than 700 PhDs and after two years the country will produce 1,500 PhDs every year,” he added.

The president said the budget for the higher education had been enhanced from Rs600 million to Rs22 billion. He said the emphasis was on science and technology on which the economy based.

He said the allocation of the funds would be made in three areas: maintenance of varsities; development of libraries, laboratories and other infrastructure; and improvement in the quality of education.

He said a couple of months back 100 PhDs and 250 Pakistani doctors, who had settled abroad, returned to serve their country which was an encouraging sign regarding the strengthening of faculties.

Gen Musharraf said a holistic approach towards education would lay a strong foundation. He said the provinces were investing a lot in improving the literacy rate. He said five universities would be established in the country with the foreign financial support by 2008.

He said technical education was yet another priority of the government. The standard of technical education would be improved up to the requirement of industries. The madaris reforms were also being given due importance.

The president urged the students to pay attention to their intellectual and moral development. “The character of a nation is collective, and the individuals and nations which lack this virtue, never rise,” he said. He asked them to develop honesty, truthfulness, contentment and humility in their personalities. Later, he gave away medals to the students.

Rector Abdul Razak Dawood, pro-chancellor Syed Babar Ali and Souriya Anwar also spoke.