Need for well-rounded, wholesome education stressed

At a media meet-up organised by the Department of Public Relations of Ziauddin University in Clifton on Tuesday, senior academics called for providing students with a well-rounded and wholesome education.

The event, chaired by Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, vice chancellor of Ziauddin University, was aimed at promoting the newly established Faculty of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences, and Faculty of Eastern Medicine and Natural Sciences of the university.

Media representatives and the deans of the new faculties, including Ms. Shaaista Sarki, Dean Faculty of Law, Dr Fauzia Shamim, Dean Faculty of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Dr Fahad Azim, Dean Faculty of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Dr Tasneem Qureshi, Dean Faculty of Eastern Medicine and Natural Sciences, attended the animated discussion, which was followed by lunch.

The teachers, with years of experience in their respective fields, as well as the vice chancellor, stressed the need for integrating various disciplines of knowledge instead of confining young learners to compartmentalised branches. In her presentation, Dr Fauzia Shamim, professor and dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, said that the mission of her faculty was to develop “empowered individuals able to deal with the complexities of life and society using critical thinking, communication skills and a problem-solving approach”.

She said her faculty also wanted to provide students with a broad knowledge of the world to maximise their potential and engagement with human issues as citizens of a globalised and increasingly technological world.

“Ziauddin University seeks to have a futuristic approach in imparting knowledge, skills and confidence in students and to inculcate in them such critical abilities, wisdom and values which are necessary for a forward-looking coherent civil society where knowledge is disseminated and service rendered with the highest sense of moral uprightness and social responsibility to the nation, region and the world at large.”

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Shaaista Sarki, dean of the Faculty of Law, said that the Centre for Access to Justice of the varsity located within the ZU Faculty of Laws used law and legal knowledge as an effective tool for social change.

She said: “The centre encourages students to work pro bono not only for the benefit of the society but also their own benefit, as it results in personal and professional growth through exposure to the practical and real legal world. The result is innovation and greater participation in the law.”

Talking about her faculty, she said: “The Faculty of Law will not only provide pro bono legal advice and legal research as projects for legal and social change, but would also conduct legal education and supervision at public forums to develop legal awareness, and would use all mediums, including conferences and seminars, to effect legal and social change.”