PUNJAB Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif gave both the buses and the hostel to the students of the Hameed Nizami Vocational Training Institute for Women that they had asked for during his visit there on his trip to Sangla Hill in Nankana district. Mian Shahbaz had said that the country could only be put on the road to progress and prosperity by imparting modern knowledge to the youth. However, as was pointed out to him, without proper facilities, the purpose of bringing less developed areas at par with the developed ones would be lost. The provision of hostel and transport facilities, alongside educational opportunity, is essential, especially in the far flung areas. At the same time, the authorities should keep in mind the area when planning vocational education. Sangla Hill is a good example, as it is a well known carpet manufacturing area, vocational education should be focused on all aspects of carpet manufacturing and marketing, both within and outside the country. For too long education has been seen as being meant to put the student on the path to a generalist education leading to graduation, or at best postgraduation, in academic subjects, and leading to an appropriate job. The need of the hour is vocational education which enables students to meet the needs of business and industry, and not be fitted for the kind of clerical jobs for which the general education system was designed, by Lord Macaulay and his disciples. However, vocational institutions will only yield these desirable results if they are made to fulfill the needs of the 21st century. The Punjab government under Mian Shahbaz should make sure that these considerations are made to guide its educational priorities and policies. More so with education, but also in almost every field, the choices made today determine the shape of the future. Therefore, the choices made today, at the beginning of the century, will determine the shape of the entire province by the middle of the century, when the students of today are in charge of the world.