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Need to produce skilled graduates: Dr Nizam - PU to present national education policy soon to govt
Need to produce skilled graduates: Dr Nizam - PU to present national education policy soon to govt


LAHORE: (Friday, January 25, 2019): Former Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Prof Dr Nizammudin has said that there was need to create specialized universities and community colleges to produce skilled graduates according to the demand of government and industry. He was addressing the first national conference on ‘Education Policy and Development 2019’ with the theme of ‘Education for Social Justice and Quality System’ at ISCS auditorium here on Friday. PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmad Akhter, Former VC AIOU Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui, Chairman PEP Foundation Dr Khalid Iqbal, Director ISCS Dr Rubina Zakar, vice chancellors from various universities, scholars, faculty members and a large number of students were attended the conference.

Addressing the ceremony, he said that the government and industry should present demand to the academic institutions regarding the requirements of graduates in various fields. He said that we had been successful in increasing access to higher education but we were still facing challenges in ensuring relevance and quality of higher education. He said that appropriate instrument, program and funding would be helpful in achieving excellence in higher education sector. He said that we needed to introduce reforms in curriculum and structure and ensure autonomy of higher education institutions.
PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmad said that PU was preparing national education policy which would soon be presented to the Government of Pakistan. He said that the university administration and faculty members were also preparing economic, trade, environment, science and technology policies for development of the country. He said higher education was linked with socio-economic growth and universities must play their role for uplifting country. He said that technology was rapidly changing in the world and today was the era of knowledge-based economy. He said that like National Action Plan, we must impose emergency in the field of higher education. He said that maximum funding should be provided to higher education sector to compete with universities of developed countries, create knowledge and produce a civilized society.
Former VC AIOU Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui said that the only difference between the developed and developing countries was knowledge. He said that knowledge was directly connected to power and politics. He said that through power we controlled bodies and through knowledge we controlled minds, and the later was more important. Therefore, the government must allocate at least four percent of GDP to education, he added. Quoting Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he said that education was a matter of life and death for the nation.
Chairman PEP Foundation Dr Khalid Iqbal said that only those societies survived that keep themselves updated with technology. He said that we need to think differently on our education system and adopt modern ways of teaching and learning.
Dr Rubina Zakar said that the conference would be helpful in preparing a policy document for the government for improving standard of education in the country, which would lead to our socio-economic development. Later, Dr Nizamuddin inaugurated new block of Sughra Begum Centre for Education Policy and Development.