Bureau Report
FAISALABAD: The Economic survival of Pakistan is related to IT and we have to pay special attention to this sector. During a meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Government College Women’s University Ms. Prof. Dr. Rubina Farooq, Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Dr. Khurram Tariq said that our education system is a collection of contradictions.
Half of the manpower that Pakistan’s universities are producing is not in the system. Due to which not only the money spent on the education sector is wasted, but it also hinders the achievement of national development goals. He said that the skills we are currently teaching our students are almost disappearing from the world.
We need to make our institutions technology oriented. Referring to the local analysis, he said that we cannot build a technology park in the industrial estates under the auspices of FIDM because there is no internet, alternative energy supply and other infrastructure. Unfortunately we don’t have a data center here either. He said that there are many challenges like this but we need to move forward.
Regarding the incubation centers, he said that we are producing talented young people who earn three to five dollars while the world is preparing talented people who earn 500 dollars. He said that an animation studio was built here but it could not run. He said that due to the Russia-Ukraine war, several hundred billion dollars worth of IT work was transferred to other countries, but Pakistan did not get even one dollar from it.
Giving the example of India, he said that its IT income is more than Saudi Arabia’s income from oil, while it does not require heavy investment like textiles. He said that we have to start this journey from our city so that because of IT, it is identified globally as Faisalabad.
He said that in this regard industry and academia have to work with one thought. He said that the current Vice Chancellors Committee is not doing any work in this regard. However, they have to uniformly formulate policies in line with the syllabus and vision of the future. He said that if we start this work today, after five years, a generation will be able to prepare that can earn billions of dollars.
Dr. Khurram Tariq emphasized the need for balance in policy making and said that uncontrolled development also has negative effects. Referring to another analysis, he said that we gave priority to the education of girls. Girls also performed excellently but after 7 years we came to know that the rate of divorces has increased tremendously which has made the social structure of the country unbalanced.
He said that the girls studied more, but they did not get equal relations. He mentioned the performance of the current freelancer and said that there is a big difference between entrepreneurship and freelancer. Whereas freelancer is only low end job. At present 81% freelancers are in Faisalabad but we need qualified experts to move towards high end.
So that we can produce competent IT experts instead of freelancers. He said that Pakistanis are basically creative minded, so they complete every work with “jagaad” but where knowledge is required, their limit ends. He said that freelancers are good for the short term, but because of them, we suffer losses in the medium and long term.
He mentioned former American President Trump’s meeting with former German Chancellor Angelina Merkel, in which President Trump specifically asked about the success of Germany’s vocational system. Angelina said that all their universities are focusing on vocational training.
Vocational training is also considered equal to other degrees has been given. Dr. Khurram Tariq said that we have to promote the technology ecosystem for comprehensive, systematic and balanced development in modern fields. He said that 43% of IT work in Pakistan is being done only in Lahore, including freelancers.
He said that we have to start modern and practical IT system from Faisalabad in collaboration with academia. For this purpose, a council consisting of industry academia can be formed in which there is no distribution of positions, but this council should encourage new innovations and prepare a manpower equipped with practical skills along with curriculum and books.
You have the ability to change shape. A professional report should be published every year (skillinex) in this regard, which includes a comparative assessment of each year and we know what experts the world needs. Dr. Khurram Tariq said that identifying the mistakes is the easiest task while correcting them is the most difficult task and now we have to work on the reform agenda.
He told Dr. Rubina that he will give a comprehensive agenda for the upcoming scheduled meeting after which it will be discussed thoroughly so that the best and effective strategy for the future can be decided. Dr. Rubina briefed about her university and said that she is looking for industry-academia collaboration. While Women’s University is preparing talented students who can earn up to 50 thousand rupees per month sitting at home.
Senior Vice President Dr. Sajjad Arshad said that he can also identify areas where business can be done without money. He appreciated Ms. Rubina Farooq’s services in the field of education and thanked her for visiting the Chamber. Finally, the former president of Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sheikh Muhammad Ashfaq presented the chamber’s honorary shield to Prof. Dr. Rubina Farooq, Vice-Chancellor of Government College Women’s University.
