We feel that we will probably need to place even greater emphasis on basic education. Education is about transferring knowledge, skills and experiences from one human-being to another. In the context of aid policy, this means that assistance in software, namely, school management, curriculum, teachers training, etc., are just as important as assistance in hardware such as building schools and providing equipment. In that sense, I am sure we have a lot to learn from the actual experiences of the two experts we have with us today, Mr. Shinji Tajima and Mr. Shouji Murata. He has experimented a number of original ideas including papermaking as a means of promoting literacy.
Education is an integral part of nation-building.
It is for the people of Pakistan themselves to tackle the many challenges in this regard, such as the 3 Rs, community development, and life-long education including creating opportunities for women. I sincerely hope that the briefings today by Messrs. Tajima and Murata on their practical experiences will give you something to think about and act upon. What is most important is to widen the circle of awareness and interest in the subject, and I am sure that this workshop will help serve this purpose, not just among the teachers and administrators but also among the people in NGOs and other organizations.