ISLAMABAD: Speaking at a seminar on the importance of education, State Minister for Federal Education Balighur Rehman said that the percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) spent on education is half of what it should be by international standards, but increasing the percentage is incredibly challenging in Pakistan, where the tax to GDP ratio is 9.1 per cent.

The seminar, titled `Education for Alf, took place at the Pakistan Institute of Parliamentary Services (PIPS) on Wednesday, The seminar was organised by Member National Assembly (MNA) Asiya Nasir in collaboration with German nongovernmental organisation Konrad AdenauerStiftung(KAS).Minister Balighur Rehman attended as chief guest.

Speaking at the seminar, Rehman said that two per cent of the GDP is currently spent on education, adding that according to international standards, four per cent of a state`s GDP should be spent on education.

However, he added that despite this, provinces are currently spending a large chunl< of their budgets on education. Punjab allocates 28 per cent, KPK allocates 27 per cent, Balochistan 26 per cent, and Sindh 25 per cent.

He said the federal government had also increased the higher education budget from Rs40 billion toRs70 billion over two years.

Rehman said that the literacy rate has increased from 58 to 60 per cent, and that the number of school drop-outs has fallen from 6.7 million to 6 million.

`We have started collaborating with universities for applied research to be conducted and implemented in government departments and institutes,` he said.

The minister added that the government is also focusing on the quality of education.

`There is currently a huge difference between the education standards of rural and urban Sindh and education boards in Punjab, which is why students at the same education level from different boards fail to pass entry tests. It will be ensured that the quality of education is the same all over the country,` he said.

MNA Asiya Nasir from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) said that everyone has the right to education. She added that primary level education must be free.

`Every child must be educated, as the literacy rate plays a very important role in a country`s development. The government should focus more on education, especially since Article 25-A of the Constitution assures free education for children aged 5 to 16.

Nasir also commended the support of developed countries in improving Pakistan`s education sector. KAS Resident Director Ronny Heine said that in an era of globalisation, education is important inorder to promote interaction. No nation can develop without education, he added. However, the seminar may have failed to discuss many of the problems facing Pakistan`s education sector.

Bilal Zaf ar, who is currently completing a Masters in History from Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), told Dawn that the seminar did not look at many of the problems facing Pakistan`s education sector today.

In particular, Zafar said the seminar did not discuss how free education could be administered within the country, or explain the measures being taken by the government to improve the quality of the education in the country.

`I have seen how students from various provinces, especially at QAU, cannot perform well due to the language barrier,` Zafar said, adding that, `There needs to be an option for them to study in their native language`. Zafar said that students from Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) have studied their native languages but in Punjab, Punjabi is not taught in schools.

`There should not be that kind of disparity at the provincial level. I wanted to ask the minister if there was any proposal to provide higher education in provincial languages, but I did not get a chance,` he said.

`However, it was a good experience, and it gave students the opportunity to listen to the education minister, other politicians and experts,` he said.