Islamabad, May 23, 2023 (PPI-OT): President Dr Arif Alvi has called for revisiting the national priorities to steer Pakistan out of its present socio-economic and political difficulties. He said that it was the responsibility of the leadership of all institutions to focus on addressing the major challenges, including overcoming poverty, improving the economy, checking population growth, providing health and education facilities, and eliminating inequalities from society, especially in the rural areas of the country. The President expressed these views while talking to the participants of the Senior Officers’ Leadership Course (SOLC-10), who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, today.

Talking to the officers, the President underlined the need for inculcating the spirit of forgiveness and love for humanity to promote tolerance and harmony in the society. He said that he was deeply hurt by the incidents on 9th May and urged the need for upholding the rule of law and holding only peaceful protests in the country. The President deplored the fact that delayed decision-making had arrested the country’s progress, adding that Pakistan needed to make faster decisions to keep pace with the exponential developments taking place in the world. He said that rapid advancements in the fields of Information Technology (IT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud and Quantum Computing, and Cyber Security necessitated that Pakistan should invest in the education and skill development of its youth.

While highlighting the importance of Cyber Security, he stated that Pakistan should focus on strengthening its cyber capabilities to protect the country and its people from the threats of cyber warfare. Terming education and health as the central pillars to address poverty and ensure socio-economic development, the President underscored the need for checking population growth and providing quality education and health services to the people. He regretted that almost 27 million children in Pakistan were out-of-schools and stressed the need to impart education to such children by adopting innovative solutions, especially online education, in addition to brick-and-mortar infrastructure development in the education sector.

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