UG prepares women for sophisticated jobs in CPEC

From Our Correspondent 

GWADAR: As the province of Balochistan would be the most benefited part of the country during the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the role of University of Gwadar (UG) is critical in harnessing the skills of youth to avail high-skill and high-wages jobs in CPEC projects. The graduates of UG, both male and females, can effectively contribute towards the ongoing and upcoming CPEC projects at Gwadar and the rest of the province as well.

“President Xi (Jinping) has assured us that in the next phase, Balochistan will be the main beneficiary of CPEC. The second phase of CPEC will focus on industrialization, technology transfer, Information Technology and increasing the productivity of our agriculture, “Prime Minister Imran said on Tuesday during his visit to Noshki, Balochistan.

UG has started producing graduates for jobs, which require creativity, innovation and Information Technology skills. Besides ensuring the access of education to the farthest reaches of the country, UG also fights against the gender equality gap in education.

Last month, the University conducted the first entry test and interviews for admission in the department of Education, Commerce, Management Science and Computer Science. It is encouraging that a considerable number of women have been enrolled for the session-2022-25, which begins in February 2022.

According to the merit list of the Department of Education, out of 67 qualified candidates, 27 are females. Maryam Bahram has topped the list of qualified candidates B. Ed (HONS) with 97.42% aggregate marks.

At the Department of Commerce in BS-Commerce class, six females are amongst the 16 qualified candidates while five females have qualified for the Management Sciences department.

The females have also shown interest in taking admission to the Department of Computer Science and out of 25 successful candidates, eight females in B.S Information Technology.

In 2021, the provincial Assembly of Balochistan passed “University of Gwadar Bill, 2018” to “upgrade the Gwadar Campus of the University of Turbat (UoT) into a new University in the southwestern part of the province of Balochistan”.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan had notified the sub-campus of University of Turbat in Gwadar in July 2016 while academic activities were started in January 2017 on the campus. The sub campus has only four programs across four departments. Since the inception of Gwadar Campus in 2017, females have been enrolled in the institution.

With the inception of UoT’s campus at Gwadar in 2017, a considerable number of females enrolled on the campus; some of them have completed their courses while others are still studying. How the University helps empower the women of Gwadar here is the story of Khalida Syed Bakhsh (Batch-2017), an alumna of the Department of Commerce, who runs an online business from her home. “During my two-year educational journey, I have not only learnt professional skills but also felt a huge difference in my personality—–I am proud of my decision to choose the commerce field as a career option, despite being a female member of society,” she was quoted by UG Prospectus as saying.