FUUAST included in HEC’s list of smart campuses, says minister

Caretaker Federal Minister for Education Mohammad Yousuf Shaikh visited the Federal Urdu University for Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST) on Friday and informed the acting management that the Higher Education Commission has included the varsity's Gulshan-e-Iqbal campus in its ‘90 smart campuses of Pakistan’ list.

He said FUUAST is the largest federally-run education institute where students from across the country are enrolled. “An Urdu university was the dream of Maulvi Abdul Haq where faculty and students could receive knowledge in their national language.” The minister was welcomed by Vice Chancellor (VC) Syed Altaf Hussain, Registrar Afzal Ahmed and other senior faculty members.

Addressing the meeting, Shaikh said nations of the world achieved their goals because of the respect and importance they accord to their national languages. “If we work together for the promotion of our own language we can accomplish our goals as well,” he added.

He mentioned that the caretaker government wants to resolve the varsity’s issues on a priority basis. “The construction work on the Islamabad campus has been started and the old campus accommodated in the Water and Power Development Authority building will be shifted to the new campus soon,” Shaikh assured.

The VC said that around 17,000 students were enrolled overall in all campuses of FUUAST and belong to far-flung areas of the country. Hussain added that the management had started work on various developmental projects, including upgradation of science laboratories, computer labs and translation centers.

After the meeting, the minister also participated in a plantation drive started by the management. Shaikh planted a tree in front of the administration block and visited various departments of the varsity. On the other hand, the non-teaching staffers held a protest against the varsity’s acting management at the Abdulhaq campus. They demanded promotions to upper grades.