Excelling in educational field vital to improve Pakistan’s image internationally: HEC chairman

Islamabad
Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Professor Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad said that participation of vice chancellors, presidents and rectors of the universities in Islamic countries in the Vice Chancellors Forum will greatly help in learning from one another’s experiences.
Addressing a meeting held at Comsats Institute of Information Technology regarding the preparations of upcoming Vice Chancellors Forum, the HEC chairman said, in view of the current circumstances in the country, it is vital for us to educate our youth and universities should start dialogue among universities in the Islamic world. This will include exchange of students, faculty, researchers and sharing of resources available in universities of the Islamic world. This will improve our image internationally. He emphasised to enrol and offer MS and PhD scholarships by the universities of Pakistan to students from the Islamic world.
The Vice Chancellors Forum on ‘Universities in the Islamic World: Facing Global Challenges’ will be organised in Islamabad on February 23-24, 2015. The forum will provide a platform to university heads for boosting cooperation and encouraging dialogue among them and the institutions they represent.
Over 300 vice chancellors, rectors and presidents of universities-higher education institutions of the Islamic world are expected to attend the forum. By sitting together under one roof, heads of universities from Islamic world will be able to draw plans, programmes and targets for their respective institutions, especially regarding promoting network among participating universities, exchange of students and faculty, initiating joint academic programmes and promoting research besides establishing virtual centres of excellence.
In the forum, the heads of universities are expected to sign memoranda of understanding of mutual cooperation among them. Panel discussions on different topics relating to higher education are planned. The exhibition will be one of the important features of the forum, which will provide an excellent opportunity to universities-higher education institutions to showcase their respective areas of strength.
The Vice Chancellors Forum is jointly being organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Trainings, Government of Pakistan, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan, Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan, Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) and the Federation of Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW).