By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday stressed the universities to provide quality education to the students as it was the foremost requirement for the development of the country.
He directed the education ministry and Higher Education Commission (HEC) to support universities in designing the courses and departments in accordance with demand of jobs in the market.
Addressing the Convocation ceremony of the Quaid-i-Azam University here, the president said Pakistan was passing through the economic crisis but hoped that the country would rise again soon by ensuring quality education, rule of law and justice.
“Pakistan has full potential to develop and the sun of development and prosperity would rise in the country soon,” he remarked. During the ceremony, the president gave away medals to the top position holders and conferred degrees to the successful students in various departments of the university.
Referring to shortage of professionals especially in medical field in the country, the president advised the female professional not to sit at home after completing their degree. He said women of the country were very hardworking and they could play key role in development of the country by working shoulder to shoulder with the men.
However, he stressed the need to stop their harassment at work places so that they could work freely. The president said literacy rate in the country was alarmingly low as over 20 million or 40% of children were currently out of school. He said to accommodate all the children at once, the government would need 55000 more schools that would be unaffordable for it. Comparing the regional statistics, the president highlighted that in India, Bangladesh and Srilanka, around 98% of the children were enrolled in schools.
He feared that this huge number of out of school children could become burden for the country in future. He said the Brick and Mortar structure could be followed to educate maximum number of children. He said the mosques could be utilized for providing education besides use of latest technology to educate the children while sitting at home.
President Alvi asked the universities to start 2-year associate degree programme for the students as the market was demanding skilled based professionals for which degree did not matter. He informed that globally around 56% of the total cyber security staff were not graduate. He said after getting the degree, the students should not stop seeking knowledge but they must show passion to continue gaining knowledge at every step of life.
He also advised them to ensure rule of law, justice and morality in their practical lives. “Justice is the foundation of Islam, it is the foundation of good human society.” Caretaker Minister for Federal Education Madad Ali Sindhi on the occasion said the government was promoting education at every level. He said he had directed to provide all basic facilities to the schools in Islamabad as without basic facilities, the quality of education could not be improved. Vice Chancellor Quaid-i-Azam University Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhtar said in total 7,738 BS, MS, M.Phill and Ph.D students were awarded degrees in the convocation. He informed that currently Rs 14 billion worth of development projects in the university were in progress with support of China.
