Varanasi (PTI): Making out a strong case for further strengthening higher education in the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said it was very important to empower youth with knowledge to meet growing challenges in the fast changing world.

Quoting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchil, he said "the empires of the future will be empires of the mind".

"It is a big challenge for our universities and education system to produce well educated and skilled youths, who can take up the challenges of the modern world".

"The present world in changing fast, it is the world of knowledge, the role of knowledge in the change and development is very important and so we have to empower our youth with knowledge," Singh said at the 90th convocation of the Benaras Hindu University here.

A strong economy, a strong defence and strong base of science and technology is important for a country to find a place for itself in the international community, he said adding, for all this higher education system in the country has to strengthened.

Noting that the economy has grown at a sustained nine per cent in the past four years of the UPA rule, he said this has created new opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurs, specially students.

"Never before the country had achieved such a remarkable sustained growth rate after Independence," he said.

The green revolution, space revolution and IT revolutions are the results of our good higher education system, he said.

Notwithstanding these achievements, the country has to go a long way to accept the challenges of the developed world.

He said the centre has enhanced allocation to education by five times to take it to greater heights.