Education remains our top most priority: PM

The Prime Minister who is on a three-day visit to Norway to represent Pakistan at the Oslo Summit on Education for Development said that despite difficulties, education remains the top most priority for Pakistan.

He said despite the problems and challenges faced by the country including terrorism, Pakistan has still managed to improve its literacy rate, check dropout rates and improve the quality of education.

He said education was now a provincial subject in Pakistan. Pakistan’s education system, child labour and child marriage were also among the issues discussed, she added.

This is the first official visit of a Pakistani leader to Norway in over a decade.

The prime minister said Pakistan in its quest for universal education had braved numerous challenges, including devastating earthquakes, floods, terrorism and displacement of refugees.

Malala became a global icon after the Taliban attack in 2012.

Advisor to PM Sartaj Aziz; Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi and Education Minister Balighur Rahman were also present during the meeting.

Talking to the chief executive officer (CEO) of Telenor Norway Jon Fredrik Baksaas, on the sidelines of the Oslo Summit, the PM said investment policy has been designed to provide a comprehensive framework for creating a conducive business environment for the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment.

The prime minister said relations between Pakistan and Norway were based on commonality of views as the two countries shared values of democratic pluralism and economic liberalism. He also bowled at Norwegian PM as well which earned him applause from the onlookers.

The Prime Minister said heavy investment has been made in telecommunication sector of Pakistan.

Malala appreciated the steps taken by the government in improving the state of education in the country.

He said Pakistan was the only country in the world to have done biometric verification of mobile phone SIMs which can go a long way in digitalization of the country.