ISLAMABAD, April 28: The government will soon launch "each one teach one" programme to improve literacy rate in the country, Federal Minister for Education Zobaida Jalal said here on Wednesday.

She was talking to the mediapersons after inaugurating the United Nations reference library at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML). A number of UN agencies' representatives were also present on this occasion.

"In this regard, a summary has already been prepared and will be presented to Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on his return from the tour of Far Eastern countries," she said.

Under the scheme, she said, literate population, especially the students would be encouraged to teach illiterate people for which a package of incentives is also under consideration. Ms Jalal said the students would be given special marks in their examinations with clear indication in certificates that they had successfully participated in the programme.

This is not a new concept and some countries are convincingly implementing this idea and have produced worthwhile results, the education minister said. The ministry is also working on a set of guidelines, whereby all stakeholders would be included in improving literacy rate.

According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2002-03, literacy rate in the country is 51.6 percent and the government is targeting 60 percent in 2005. To a query, the education minister said: "I have been appointed by the prime minister of Pakistan, and I am not worried about the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) accusations."

The MMA had accused Ms Jalal of following the US lines on the recent controversy about deletion of Quranic verses from the curriculum and demanded her resignation. However, the education minister had denied any such links.

Talking about the library, Ms Jalal said this was a great leap forward both for the university and the UN systems in Pakistan. "More than that, it is a moment of reckoning for the researchers who will find a treasure of knowledge in the shape of more than ten thousand UN documents at one place," she underlined.

Referring to the glorious Muslim era, the education minister said every educational institution of the Muslim period had an attached library. In the present age of information and flow of information it is indexing, abstracting, on line data base, the bibliographic and reference services which have made the educational and scientific research work possible at a fast pace.

"I am sure this combination of UN reference library and NUML's academic endeavours would bring about the desired results," the education minister hoped. UN resident coordinator in Pakistan Onder Yucer said in the present age information was directly attached to development.

"Libraries throughout the world are considered a hub of development activities, as it is only sharing of information that can help reach concrete solutions," Mr Yucer said. In the UN reference library at the NUML, 10,000 UN documents would be available for researchers, students and general public, he said. He also thanked the NUML for housing the library.

In his welcome speech, Dr Aziz Ahmad Khan, rector of NUML, said the library would open immense learning opportunities for university students.