Kampala — EDUCATION state minister Gabriel Opio has called for more investment in higher education, saying it plays a vital role in development.

"The way forward is to accept that higher education is critical to our future. Therefore, it should be made a major area of national investment," the higher education state minister said.

Modern economies worldwide, he argued, were being driven by human rather than physical capital alone.

"Investment in human capital should precede investment in physical capital," he said on Saturday.

Opio was addressing members of the Kigezi Youth Development Initiative at Lugogo in Kampala.

In 2007, the minister said, enrolment in Ugandan higher institutions of learning was 137,000.

He said the old World Bank policies, which described education at lower levels as critical for development, be dropped.

"The position of the World Bank is now changing. A series of the bank-funded studies have established that the relationship between higher education and economic development is more striking than it was previously," he said.

Opio cited a 2003 report, which advocated for an increase of funding to higher education.

To comply with the findings, Opio explained, the Government was sourcing funds to develop public universities.

At the same function, the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, said like education, security was vital for the economic development of the country.

"It is your patriotic responsibility to participate in the security of your country.

"Fighting crime should not be an individual but a collective responsibility," the Kayihura explained.