KARACHI, Nov 25: The country is moving towards the standard target of Unesco for allocating four per cent of the gross domestic product for education. Additional Secretary, Ministry of Education, Shahid Ahmed said this here on Sunday speaking as chief guest at an awards distribution ceremony.

Gold medals were distributed to the students of engineering universities in the country who had obtained the highest percentage of marks.

Mr Ahmed pointed out that the allocation in the budget for education is being increased in a phased manner and that the country is moving towards the standard set by Unesco.

He said during the past several years the actual public sector budgetary expenditure on education has remained around two per cent of the GDP. He added that the expenditure on education has been steadily increasing over the last five years. It increased from 1.8 per cent (Rs75.9 billion) in 2000-01 to 2.49 per cent (Rs211.4 billion) in 2006-07.

He said if the private sector investment is also taken into account then the country’s expenditure on education is almost three per cent of the GDP.

He said Pakistan is a signatory to the “Quality Education for All by the Year 2015” agreement under the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Mr Ahmed said that the federal government has taken several steps towards improving the quality of education within the country. He claimed the National Education Policy 1998-2010 is presently under review to make it a “living document.” He said to improve the quality of education at the institutional level, the government has launched a comprehensive reform programme. He added that the ministry of education also has a package in place to present scholarships and awards to talented students.—APP