UAE to provide more scholarship opportunities to Pak students: envoy

LAHORE:United Arab Emirates Consul General Dr Bakheet Ateeq Al Remeithi visited Punjab University and called on Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood here on Friday.

Expressing his views, Dr Bakheet Ateeq Al Remeithi said that the best institutions were established in Pakistan under the direction of Sheikh Zayed in the field of education and health. He said that Pakistan is a great country and the attitude of the people is very friendly. He said that Pakistanis had played an important role in the development of the UAE. He said that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) played a role in establishing Emirates. He said that the negative propaganda against Pakistan on social media was ignored by the Emirates. He said that the UAE stands with Pakistan in every difficult time. He said that the UAE would provide more scholarship opportunities to Pakistani students and will provide more resources for the renovation and upgradation of the PU Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre (SZIC) building. PU VC Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood said that UAE has valuable services in the field of education and health in Pakistan. He said that there was a need to develop mutual cooperation between the universities of Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

WB, HEDP teams briefed on GCU’s academic reforms

A delegation from the World Bank, led by Senior Economist Ms Inga Afanasieve and Education Specialist Tashmina Rahman, visited the GC University Lahore along with the Higher Education Development Project (HEDP) team led by Project Director Dr Mahmood-ul-Hassan Butt.

The delegation engaged in discussions with the Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Adnan Ahmad and university officials, including Prof Dr Hamid Mukhtar, Director of the Quality Enhancement Cell (QEC), Dr Fouzia Shahin, Director of Academic Planning & External Linkages (AP&EL).

The World Bank and HEDP teams were briefed regarding the operations of GCU's administrative and academic departments, the implementation of the revised Undergraduate Education Policy (UEP), including student internship support mechanisms, and the role of HEDP in promoting academic reforms.

The team also reviewed the establishment of the QECAC Unit at GCU, its collaboration with affiliated colleges, and the QEC's role in these institutions, emphasising self-assessment exercises, UEP implementation, and accreditation processes. The delegation also visited various departments of the university. Subsequently, the delegation visited MAO College Lahore, an affiliated college of GCU, where they met with faculty, senior management, and students engaged in programmes under the revised UG Policy.

Prof Dr Hamid Mukhtar said that the visit was highly successful, and the World Bank-HEDP team expressed satisfaction with GCU's administrative functions and the adoption of new educational reforms.