Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday asked the students to enhance their intellectual abilities and play their role in the development of the country.
He said that it was essential to improve intellectual resources as well as IT knowledge and skills to help address the socio-economic challenges being faced by the country.
The president expressed these views while talking to the students and staff of the Cadet College, Jaffarabad, Balochistan, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Highlighting the importance of education, the President stated that nations had achieved progress by focusing on science and education.
He regretted that 22 million children were out of school whereas the countries in the region had achieved almost 100 percent primary enrolment rate, adding that tangible and immediate steps needed to be taken to bring these children into schools.
He also underlined the need to equip the youth with skills and education to improve the economic health of the country.
The president said that Pakistan had great potential in terms of both its natural and human resources that needed to be fully harnessed for the uplift of the country.
He said that Balochistan was rich in natural resources and steps were being taken to bring the province at par with other provinces.
He emphasized the need for constructing dams and water storage to mitigate the impacts of floods and natural calamities.
The president also called upon the college management to train students in emerging technologies like the Internet of Things, Robotics, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence, which had vast applications in every sphere of life.
He urged the students to focus on their studies and contribute towards the development of Pakistan.
The president was informed that Cadet College Jaffarabad was established on 5th March 2009. The college runs classes from 7th till 12th class. Eight entries of 12 grade (around 570) have been passed out from college so far.
Earlier last week, Dr Arif Alvi has underscored the need for promoting skills-based and technical education in the country to meet the needs of industry and other sectors of the economy. He pointed out that about 22 million children were out of school, adding that urgent measures were needed for their intellectual and physical development to make them useful citizens of the country.
The president expressed these views while chairing a meeting of the Senate of National Skills University (NSU), at Aiwan-e-Sadr, Islamabad on Tuesday.
He emphasized that NSU needed to produce more skilled people by equipping them with the latest skill sets to fully meet the demands of the market. He highlighted the need for career counselling for students by the universities to help them choose appropriate professions.
He asked the NSU management to establish linkages with national and international technical education institutions to improve the quality and skills of its graduates.
Prof Dr Muhammad Mukhtar, VC of NSU, briefed the meeting about the role of the university in promoting skill-based education in the country. The Senate of NSU also confirmed the minutes of the 4th meeting of the Senate, besides endorsing the decisions taken by the VC on behalf of the Senate.
The meeting also approved the establishment of the NSU sub-campus in Muridke, Sheikhupura.
