By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday said that the establishment of the community colleges was vital to meet the educational and skill requirements of the country.
The president, chairing a follow-up meeting on the National University of Modern Languages (NUML), said Pakistan was facing a shortage of skilled workforce therefore the higher educational and technical institutions needed to focus on the skill development of human resources. Rector of the NUML, Major General (retd) Muhammad Jaffer gave a presentation about the role of the university in the promotion of higher education in the country.
He informed that the university was introducing the conceptual approach to learning to inculcate critical and analytical thinking skills among students.
The Rector apprised the meeting that 22,000 students were currently studying in different disciplines.
He also highlighted the measures taken for the development of IT infrastructure, integration of IT in language learning and translation, and the promotion of high-quality research.
President Alvi said that the world had shifted to the online mode of education and the educational institutions needed to extensively invest in developing their IT infrastructure to promote online education.
He underlined the need for increasing the quantum of online education and the number of virtual classes to reduce the cost of education, particularly for students belonging to far-flung areas of the country.
The president asked the management of the university to take steps for the preservation and revival of dying languages. President Alvi also appreciated the research initiatives taken by the university as well as the steps taken to develop IT infrastructure.
Earlier, President Dr Arif Alvi Thursday while calling for promotion of information technology, artificial intelligence and virtual learning, said the future development of the nations was linked with the swift adoption of modern technology.
The president, while addressing the Pakistan Innovate Conference and National Idea Bank Grand Finale, also emphasized bridging the technology gap and advised the youth to ensure positive use of the social media.
He said the artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution were the bases for future development of the nations.
The president urged the universities to multiply the number of their enrollment to feed the local as well as the international market.
Referring to the available modern tools like Zoom and others, the president said in modern era, the massive knowledge and data existed in clouds accessible to all even beyond human consumption.
Even he said the digital information tools were also challenging the formal educational structures as currently, everyone could get education while being at home. Even 80% dentistry could be learnt virtually, he added.
The president said the development in this hi-tech era did not require any huge investment rather small startups could outshine the giants.
He said though Pakistan had lagged behind the race of technology, however, the country could join the league by nurturing ideas coming through the National Ideas Bank.
Citing Pakistan’s youth bulge, the president said many countries wanted to absorb tech graduates from the market which necessitated the universities to increase the number of their students.
He said by 2030, the world would need around 80 million cyber security experts for it being a subject of modern day warfare.
