Varsities’ uplift projects handed over to PHEC

LAHORE
Chairperson of Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Prof Dr Muhammad Nizamuddin has said that as per decision of the Punjab government, development projects of universities have been handed over to PHEC.
He disclosed this while addressing the participants of the first meeting of PHEC Technical Review Committee on Development Project of HEIs/Colleges held on Thursday. Now the PHEC will review and recommend the new development scheme as well as suggest re-appropriation and revision to the ongoing approved schemes. In this regard, a technical team of experts will assist higher education institutions of the province.
Dr Nizam urged the participants to play a pivotal role through new ideas, dynamic approaches and speedy and timely implementation of development initiatives. The new projects should not be confined merely to infrastructure development, but also focus on the soft components including capacity building of faculty, professional development of administrative staff and other emerging needs of the higher education sector, he added. He further said the PHEC was committed to strengthening higher education sector of Punjab and all assistance would be provided to higher education institutions as mandated by the PHEC Act. The technical committee headed by Jalil Ahmed reviewed various development projects of the universities and provided technical assistance for improvement of the proposals. The meeting was told that the government of Punjab had allocated huge sum of amount for 21 development schemes for establishment of new universities, sub-campuses and upgrade of existing facilities in the universities.
Prof Dr Farhat Saleemi, Vice-Chancellor Government College for Women University Sialkot, deans, registrars, advisers, directors planning and development and project directors of 14 public sector universities attended the meeting.
Health conference: A national public health conference was organised here on Thursday.
The conference aimed to bring together key experts from the field of public health with an objective of providing stewardship to professionals through fostering linkages and partnerships, creating learning opportunities and organising popular public health voice. The participants endorsed the idea of developing a platform for voicing public health concerns and appreciated the efforts in developing the forum.
The opening note at the conference was given by Shahima Rehman, followed by Ali Bahadur Qazi, who informed the audience of the status of health facilities in Punjab, challenges and opportunities. Dr Syeda Zahida Sarwar emphasized the need of an inter-sectoral approach and stakeholder liaison. The speakers and panelists included Dr. Nisar Cheema, Dr. Tahir Manzoor from UNICEF, Dr. Hasan Raza from USAID, Dr. Anwar Janjua, Dr. Shakila Zaman, Dr. Ehsanullah Tarin from Punjab University, Dr Tasleem Akhtar and Dr Shabnum Sarfraz. Rana Mashood, Minister for School Education, Higher Education & Youth Affairs Punjab, lauded the efforts and agreed to the need of a holistic approach towards combating public health challenges in Pakistan. Students from various local and international universities also participated in the event as observers.