Preliminary work for sports university being done

KARACHI: A senior official of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Thursday reiterated the government’s commitment about establishing a sports university in Islamabad and said work was being done in this respect.

“We are committed and are well on track. We have already started preliminary work for the establishment of the varsity, the first of its kind in the country,” PSB Director General Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera told ‘The News’ from Islamabad.

“There is no handicap, neither financial — as the finance minister Ishaq Dar has promised his complete support — nor with respect to planning as Ahsan Iqbal is also cooperative,” Ganjera said.

“Our correspondence with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is on. In the near future we will hold a very important meeting with the HEC whose role in it is very important,” Ganjera said.

A delegation of the HEC led by its Director General Sports visited Cuba in February this year to attend the 16th international congress on higher education. It also discussed the establishment of a sports university in Pakistan with the Sports University Havana and the Cuban Ministry of Sports.

The Cuban authorities agreed to send a team of experts to Pakistan to carry out an analysis for the establishment of the university. On their return, former Director HEC and DG Sports HEC held a meeting with the secretary of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) on March 15 and discussed the issue of the varsity.

It was decided to constitute a working group comprising IPC secretary, DG PSB and DG Sports HEC.

A preliminary meeting of the group was held at the PSB DG office on March 18 in which it was agreed to visit and study the sports education system of different countries, including Australia, India, Iran and China.

The participants also agreed to organise a consultative workshop in Islamabad which will be attended by sports experts and officials of universities and federations. Cuban experts would also be invited to attend the workshop.

The processing of PC-1 for the varsity is being done. The varsity will initially utilise the facilities at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad.

“We don’t need any major infrastructure initially. The facilities at the Pakistan Sports Complex are not bad. The Victoria University, Australia, had only five classrooms which used to cater to the needs of ten different departments,” he said.

“An international standard classroom has already been established at the Jinnah Stadium at the Pakistan Sports Complex. The classroom has an in-built sound system and other requisite facilities of high class,” Akhtar said.

“I have talked to India and Victoria University. We will bring in technocrats from there to teach at the university. It will work on the lines of National Institute of Sports, Patiala, in India. It is the best model for us,” Ganjera said.

This correspondent also learnt that the services of former joint secretary Ministry of IPC Khalid Mahmood Mirza, who retired on Saturday last, are being hired on contract basis because he has been a part of the process and knows well how to carry out this important project.