LAHORE - Vice-Chancellor Punjab University Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran has stressed the need for imparting the high quality education of modern sciences and technology to the younger generation so as to ensure countrys survival and sovereignty as well as its supremacy in the fields of education and socio-economic development at the global level. He was addressing the participants of the annual award giving ceremony of the Punjab School System in Township here on Sunday. Secretary General Jamaat Islami Liaquat Baloch, Chief Executive of the PSS Syed Ahsan Ullah Waqas and Director Col Muhmmad Sabir also spoke on the occasion. Dr Mujahid Kamran said despite the passage of 62 years, we were still faced with a critical situation in the education sector. He appealed to the political leadership to arrange enactment of necessary legislation for compelling the government to compulsory spend at least four per cent of GDP on education. He said we were currently spending two per cent of our 453 billion US Dollar GDP while advanced countries spend 3 times of the same on education. Similarly, the expenditure on research and development was presently 0.2 per cent of our GDP whereas the US was spending 2.7 per cent or 390 billion dollars on R&D. The result of past neglect towards high priority education sector was that presently we were confronted with an acute shortage of highly qualified experts in academic fields. The number of PhDs in all the Pakistani universities was 3,700 as compared to the Manchester University where against the total number of 35,000 students, there were 5,800 PhDs while the UK was producing 16,000 PhDs annually, he added. He said out of a population of 1 million, the strength of R&D experts in USA, Japan, Israel, Iran and Pakistan was 4,100, 4,900, 1,600, 600 and 78, respectively. He said with this meager allocation of funds on education and literacy, how could we compete with the developed countries. Dr Mujhaid Kamran said competition and conflict among the nations was always going on in the world and ultimately one day it transforms into an actual armed conflict. He said the advanced countries were always making preparations to emerge out of this clash successfully. Resultantly they succeed in safeguarding their survival and sovereignty besides guaranteeing a respectable and prosperous life to their countrymen. He said knowledge and education played a key role in the struggle of nations. No country can produce highly qualified academic leadership and brave fighters unless and until it enjoys educational supremacy in addition to qualities of noble character, he added. He said we were lucky that we were followers of Islamic civilization, which had both of these merits. The Almighty has laid great emphasis on contemplating the natural phenomena, he added. He cited the example of a student of renowned English scientist James Jeans who asked him that being a scientist why he was carrying a copy of Bible. While replying to him, he remarked that when he observed the vastness of universe through his telescope, he did not know whether there was any God or not, but he was stunned by its mysteries and secrets. Earlier, Secretary General Jamaat Islami Liaquat Baloch and CEO Punjab School System Syed Ahsan Ullah Waqas, in their speeches, paid glowing tributes to the VC on his academic services in imparting high quality education to the Punjab University students and his untiring efforts to convert the University into an internationally acclaimed center of excellence. They said being a knowledge friendly person, Dr Mujahid Kamran had always patronized the Punjab School System. Later, the VC gave away medals to the students of the PSS who had shown extraordinary performance in their matriculation results during the years 2004-2008.