Appreciating the holding of International Students Convention and Expo on December 12 and 13, in Islamabad, the renowned educationalist and former founder Chairperson Higher Education Commission, Prof. Dr. Atta ur Rahman said that through this excellent initiative, Pakistani students would get an opportunity to interact with the foreign students coming from 30 different countries of the world. This will not only promote diversity of culture but also promote harmony and coordination among students.
He congratulated the organisers over initiating this timely activity. He also hoped that special activities would also be planned for projecting a soft image of our country in this event by highlighting the achievements of Pakistan in the fields of science & technology and other related fields.
Responding to a question, he stated that he organised the very first students' convention of the country when he was the Chairman HEC in 2004. The idea behind such an initiative is to prepare our youth for the future. Around 100 million population of the country is aged less than 30, and therefore we have an enormous human resource in terms of our youth. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here, and the only way forward towards progress is education, science, technology and innovation. Our youth should be exposed to the new horizons of science and technology. All the countries who prioritised education, science and technology by focusing on knowledge based economy have made remarkable progress in every field of life. We need to urgently embark upon knowledge economy which is the dire need of today, he stated.
In order to improve the ranking of Pakistani universities, he suggested that the government should transform 10 of our best universities into 'Research Universities' and 10 of the Best Research Centers to 'International Centers' by adequately increasing their operational budgets and providing liberal development grants. Selection of such universities should be made strictly on a competitive merit based mechanism.
He further suggested that the government should set up a National Task Force under the Prime Minister comprising top scientists/engineers in the country. This should serve as a Think Tank and advise the Prime Minister of the way forward to transition to a strong knowledge economy. Pakistan has a window of opportunity now under a government that is clean and determined to progress. It is a "now or never" situation. We must all join hands and rise to the occasion.
For this it should become mandatory that all national projects as well as FDI programmes should have a minimum of 5% of project costs set aside for technology transfer. A committee under the umbrella of Planning Division comprising leading scientists and engineers in the country should clear all projects, ensuring that there is a genuine appropriate component of technology development/transfer before the project is processed by the Planning Division for approval by CDWP/ECNEC.
The economic directions of Pakistan must change, if we want to meet the challenges of the 21st century in an effective way. "I am hopeful that this youth convention will play a positive role in youth empowerment and enabling them to play a pivotal role in country's progress", he said. "My best wishes are with the organizers and participants coming from national and international universities".
Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman, FRS NI, HI, SI, TI, UNESCO Science Laureate