ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that the government is endeavouring to make education purpose-oriented to meet scientific, technological and industrial requirements.

The president was addressing on Friday a felicitation ceremony for award of Islamic Development Bank's "Prize for the best science institution in the Islamic world" to the International Centre for Chemical Sciences, University of Karachi.

President Musharraf announced a grant of Rs30 million for the library and other facilities at the International Centre for Chemical Sciences. Referring to the vital difference that key technological fields make in the development of countries, he observed that the engineering sector accounted for 61 per cent of world trade while textile made up just 6 per cent of the global business.

"Therefore, we are focusing on a gradual shift from agrarian to knowledge-based economy through the institutions of science and technology - to achieve that we have increased the education budget from Rs800 million to over Rs9 billion," Gen Musharraf said.

"We have woken up now and are moving faster now...we have to do a lot of catching up as we wasted a lot of time during the 50 years. Now with a growing economy, we will persevere with our efforts to promote education in accordance with our needs," he told the gathering.

He lauded the efforts made by Higher Education Commission Chairman Dr Ataur Rehman for the advancement of higher education in the country. The president awarded medals to outstanding faculty of the institute, which has won several international acclaims. -APP