Pakistan Will Increase Higher-Education Budget by 20 Percent of GDP, President Says

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday that the country’s higher-education budget would be increased by 20 percent of gross domestic product over the next five years. The president told a group of more than 100 university leaders that the government had approved salary increases for professors and officials, reported The International News. The government is working on a package to reform madrassa colleges, which teach Islamic theology and religion, to influence their “extremist mind-set,” Mr. Zardari said.