‘New curriculum to encourage critical thinking’

Islamabad: New curriculum for pre-primary to class 5 has been finalised, while the one for up to class 12 will be developed by the end of the year, said Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Engineer Muhammad Balighur Rehman on Wednesday.

“The new curriculum will encourage analytical and critical thinking and will focus on ethical training and character building,” he told the 49th convocation of the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES-FAST), Islamabad Campus, here.

The minister congratulated the students on their achievements and advised them to develop habit of achieving excellence in whatever they do. “You (students) must all strive for continuous improvement in your life and adopt perseverance to achieve your goals.”

The minister also appreciated the University for its focus on conducting quality research to meet contemporary industrial demands. He said the government was placing great emphasis on higher education and research and their tenure had seen the budget for higher education institutions more than doubled from Rs41 bn to Rs. 100 bn. The overall public spending on education has also risen phenomenally from Rs. 550 bn to around 900 bn budgeted for the current year.

Earlier, Director NUCES, Dr. Arshad Ali Shahid welcomed the Minister and apprised him of the University’s achievements. He said that Islamabad campus alone has produced around 4500 graduates and 26 PhDs so far. "Our University places huge emphasis on conducting quality research and that candidates routinely collaborate with international institutions and foreign experts for their research work." Rector NUCES Dr. Amir Muhammad said in addition to formal education, the University also promotes qualities of high moral and character values among students.

The National University of Computer & Emerging Sciences (NUCES or FAST-NU) is the first multi-campus private sector university set up under the Federal Charter with headquarters at Islamabad and campuses at Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Faisalabad.

The University offers undergraduate, postgraduate and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Business Administration, and Mathematics.