LAHORE, Dec 20: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said time is ripe for dictating peace in the world on a reciprocal basis as all world leaders are yearning for it. “I do not believe in peace gained through submission, but with equality and honour,” he said.

Delivering the keynote address at the fifth convocation of the Government College University, Lahore, on Wednesday, he said no country had attained absolute sovereignty in this global world. To earn sovereignty meant economic solidarity which was possible only through resolution of political disputes, he said, adding: “It will be unwise to adopt confrontational approach at this point of time.”

He said Pakistan could again rise if it would ensure internal peace and socio-economic development. In this context, he said, the forthcoming (2007) general elections were highly crucial as their results would show the world whether Pakistanis wanted rule in the hands of progressive and moderate forces or extremist forces.

Pakistan’s was a case of leadership failure despite the fact that abundant resources and potential were available, he said and called upon the citizens to support the government’s endeavours in curbing the internal forces imposing intolerance and in promoting an enlightened and tolerant society.

He said there was a need to stop the “emotional Muslims” from promoting an environment of intolerance like the one created in Bajaur, FATA and tribal areas. He said a majority of people was vying for tolerance and enlightenment in the country.

Gen Musharraf criticised the previous leaders for “their inability to face challenges and resolve disputes. They continued to sweep challenges under the carpet to achieve short-term gains without minding the long-term losses.” Otherwise, he said, there would not have been issues like the construction of dams, Balochistan, Hudood law, etc, in the country.

The incumbent government on the other hand had adopted a strategy to make long-term gains no matter it faced short-term loss. He said he had an absolute clear vision that Pakistan should be strengthened socio-economically and the Muslim Ummah be empowered.

The president said Pakistan was also lacking in the development of human resources and needed to improve it. There was a great dichotomy that Pakistan was a nuclear state, but its literacy level and educational standards were pathetic. He said Pakistan’s literacy rate was just over 50 per cent and none of its universities was ranked among the top world institutions. He said the responsibility of this situation fell on the successive governments which had failed to fully harness the potential of this nation.

“We are alive to the situation and have developed and implemented a vibrant strategy to meet the challenges of this knowledge-driven world”. He said no amount of resources could ensure strong economy of a country unless it attained modern knowledge. He explained this concept while comparing economies of different countries and reiterated that the Muslim world was far behind the European countries.

To overcome the problems and catch up with the knowledge-driven world, he said, the government had developed a holistic approach in the education sector. It was promoting universalisation of primary education and planning to achieve an ambitious challenge of enhancing literacy rate up to 85 per cent by 2009-10. Besides, he said, there was a need to improve curricula, standard of teachers and replace the rote-learning examination system by learning-based system.

He stressed the need for learning English language for the youth to face the modern-world challenges. Stating that technical education too was a great tool to alleviate poverty and enhance job market, he emphasised that students should seek technical education and select subjects after analysing the market.

In the higher education sector, he said the Higher Education Commission was doing very well. Pakistan had also approached different countries and signed agreements that they would set up their world-class universities’ campuses here to impart quality education to local students. He said the Pakistani students would be able to earn foreign universities’ degrees locally that would save a lot of foreign exchange and end hassles involved in going abroad. Nine science and engineering education universities, including five in Punjab, would be established in collaboration with different countries.

When these universities would churn out graduates, Gen Musharraf said the respective countries’ governments would also set up their industries in Pakistan as they would be getting qualified manpower and cheap labour.

Earlier, Governor/Chancellor Khalid Maqbool said the HEC had played a pivotal role in providing the necessary impetus for promotion of higher education in the country. He said the commission’s innovative programmes, quality assurance framework, financial and technical support and efforts for faculty and curriculum development had started showing positive results.

At present, he said, Punjab had 32 universities, including 17 in the public sector, compared to eight public- and two private-sector universities it had some six years ago. Similarly, he said, the student population in public universities had grown from 41,785 to 103,057. He said enrolment in PhD had now reached to 2,710 as against 1,054 in 2000.

He said the universities had added 140 new departments and some 75 foreign faculty members were teaching in Punjab universities. He said the total funding for higher education in Punjab was around Rs11 billion.

GCU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Aftab presented the university’s report.

The president later awarded medals and academic rolls of honour to the top position holders in different exams.

Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi and education minister Imran Masood were also present.