LAHORE:Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairman Prof Dr Shahid Munir has said that promoting higher education is the most important need of the hour to bring Pakistan into the ranks of developed countries.
He expressed these views while addressing the 13th Post-Graduate Students’ Conference (PGSC) “Transformation of Higher Education: Theory to Skills” organised by Punjab University Institute of Education and Research (IER). IER Director Prof Dr Rafaqat Ali Akbar, Conference Secretary Prof Dr Muhammad Shahid Farooq, senior faculty members and MPhil / PhD scholars participated in the event.
Dr Shahid Munir said that the purpose of universities was to create new knowledge keeping in mind modern trends because good institutions could bring positive change in the society. He said that like the developed countries, the developing countries should also take steps for the development of human resources.
The PHEC chairman said that the culture of entrepreneurship should be promoted to curb unemployment. He said that institutions move forward by appointing faculty on merit. He said that research work that was designed to meet the needs of the society should be encouraged. He said that our forefathers made a lot of sacrifices to establish Pakistan and now we have to work together to make it prosperous. He said that for the promotion of higher education, it was necessary to have a faculty development programme and academic freedom should also be ensured. Appreciating the efforts of organisers of the conference, he said that such activities increase the students’ abilities. Dr Rafaqat Ali Akbar said that it was necessary to develop the higher education sector in order to develop a society or a country. He said that the work of universities was to create new knowledge and provide leadership for the society, but universities were not performing their duties well. He said there was a dire need for regular training of teachers. He said that we need to give autonomy to the learners. He said that there was a need to transform the traditional teaching system into a system that could develop technical skills among the students. Later, souvenirs were presented to the distinguished guests.