ABDUL RASHEED AZAD

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Muhammad Baligh-Ur-Rehman has said that education is a basic need for peace and development.

Rehman was addressing the two-day international conference on the “Role of Muslims in the Contemporary World’ jointly organized by University of Lahore, International Universities Council and International Union of Muslim Scholars here on Tuesday. The heads of many universities, academicians and senior scholars from the Muslim countries are participating in the conference.

Baligh-Ur-Rehman said that the government of Pakistan is giving preferential treatment to universal literacy in the country and also meeting the national goals set for higher education.

He said that nowadays Muslims are facing challenges and terrorism is one of them. Pakistan has played a leading role against terrorism and succeeded in overcoming terrorism and bringing peace back to the country, he added.

The minister said it is time for the Islamic countries to use their resources, both human and financial, to achieve the cherished goal of peace, harmony, development and security in the world. The Muslim countries will have to link up with the larger world to accomplish the common goals and develop capacity for this purpose.

Rehman said that the Muslims will have to focus on education and equip themselves with modern technologies and skills.

He said, “We will have to inculcate in our students the habit of reading books to make them life-long learners. We need to focus on character building of our students so that they could be able to differentiate between right and wrong.”

He said that the incumbent government is focusing on the promotion of quality education in the country and increased fund for the education sector.

The federal minister congratulated the University of Lahore, International Universities Council and International Union of Muslim Scholars for organizing the international conference in Islamabad.

He hoped that this gathering of scholars, academicians, diplomats, and religious scholars will come up with a way forward and suggest actionable strategy on how the Muslims should position themselves in the present network and fast moving world.