Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the youth are the future of Pakistan. Still, less than 2% of the GDP is allocated for education, due to which millions of children are deprived of education. He stressed that the government should substantially increase the budget for education so that the educated youth can play an active role in the economic development of Pakistan and promote knowledge economy. He said that mosques should be used to educate the out-of-school children. He said that around 26 million children are out of school in Pakistan and the government should use all resources to bring them to school. He said that the business community is ready to cooperate with the government to improve the poor condition of schools. He said this while addressing a ceremony organized to observe the International Day of Education at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, Director General, National Language Promotion Department and former Vice Chancellor of Punjab University said that Pakistan cannot progress without educating its children. He said that Pakistani universities do not have the budget and they are doing a jehad to educate the students. He stressed that education in Urdu should also be focused, which is our mother tongue. He said that to develop a tolerant nation, we should promote arts, poetry, literature, music, and painting as well.

Imtiaz Haider, Director General, Hamdard University said that by providing better education to children, prejudice, hatred, inequality, and other negative elements can be eradicated from society. He stressed for close academia-industry linkages to improve the economy.

Engr. Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI, said that Pakistan needs to improve the literacy rate. He urged that the budget for education should be increased to at least 10% of the GDP. He said that the private sector should cooperate with the government in promoting education.

Zafar Bakhtawari, Former President ICCI and Secretary General UBG Pakistan stressed for paying special attention to the education and better training of children. He said that the government should work on an emergency plan to bring out-of-school children to schools. He said that a model school in Islamabad should be handed over to the ICCI and the business community will bear its expenses along with running the school in a better way. Double shift and evening classes should be started in all educational institutions. He said that the businessman should be promoted as a role model among the young generation which will attract the youth towards entrepreneurship and help better growth of the economy.

Adnan Mukhtar, Ms. Afraz Sial, Ms. Fatima Hassan also spoke on the occasion.