Steps taken to improve quality of education, says minister

LAHORE

Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani has said a number of innovative projects have been launched to improve quality of education of public sector colleges according to international standards. 

These colleges have also been asked to provide details of necessary facilities required in their institutions, the minister said while addressing convocation of Government Degree College for Woman, Kahna Nau on Wednesday, according to a handout.  He said necessary funds have been provided for the provision of missing facilities in colleges, and added different initiatives proved very useful in raising standard of education in the colleges. Besides establishment of 23 new colleges and upgrade of two other colleges, missing facilities have been provided in 41 colleges in different cities during the fiscal year 2015-16. On the other hand, E-Youth Initiative has enabled the students to remain aware of latest happening in their respective fields of studies. “It is our desire to enhance the level of degree colleges to post-graduation level, wherever required, so that girl students could continue their education at the doorsteps. A better educated workforce would result in adoption of more efficient production technologies and improved productivity. Punjab is focusing on demand side intervention and to increase the capacity of human resource by imparting quality education,” the minister said. 

Talking about the importance of girls’ education, Gillani said state of education depicts the level of civilised society; parents should, therefore, give priority to education of their children, especially the girls. The government has ensured that the girls living in far-flung and remote areas have equal access to educational facilities, as we believe that it is the fundamental right of every child. He advised the students to set their life goals and work hard to materialise them.

“We are Pakistanis and the country is our strong identity in this world. CPEC has secured the economic future of the country, while international indicators are also witness to strong economic growth of the country,” he said. 

Earlier, Principal Prof Ms Anjum Nizami presented a detail of college performance in her address of welcome. Later, the minister Raza Gillani distributed certificates in the students.

UVAS: The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) has started construction work on a training centre for Biologics Production on its Ravi Campus Pattoki. 

Punjab Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development Department Asif Saeed Manais inaugurated the construction work while Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha (SI), Project Director Prof Dr Khushi Muhammad, deans, senior faculty members and officials were present. The training centre will be completed in three years at an estimated cost of Rs 398.920 million. Speaking on the occasion, the minister said vaccine production is very necessary to prevent fatal foot and mouth disease. “Timely and quality vaccination is the only way to prevent diseases like FMD and this centre is a step forward in this direction,” he said and urged creating awareness among poor farmers about importance of vaccination and preventive measures. He stressed that the UVAS and the Livestock and Dairy Development Department must work together as one team to better the lot of the poor farmers. The minister directed timely completion of the project so that vaccines could be made available to farmers for their every single animal.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Talat Naseer Pasha briefed the minister on the Ravi Campus of the university and the training centre for Biologics Production. He said the centre will initially have the capacity of producing 4 to 5 million doses of vaccines every year while its capacity will be enhanced up to 70 million in future. “The bioreactor facility, which is first type of its kind in Pakistan, is being installed at the centre for the mass production of vaccines for prevention of deadly foot and mouth disease (FMD),” the VC said.