President underlines need for enhancing educational standards through virtual education

KARACHI: President Dr Arif Alvi said Saturday said the coronavirus pandemic had unfolded the importance of online education in Pakistan; therefore, the universities had a golden opportunity to enhance their educational standards through virtual education.

He expressed these views while meeting with a delegation of civil society, headed by Haji Hanif Tayyab. He was briefed about the problems faced by the Federal Urdu University of Arts Science & Technology (Fuuast).

The virtual university had been playing a pivotal role in online education by providing the cheapest and quality education, and the Federal Urdu University of Arts Science and Technology should also promote online education, he added.

The president observed that the issue of brain-drain in Pakistan had been a result of neglect in the higher education sector, but now efforts were being made to improve the situation by aligning the vision of all universities in line with our future requirements.

The delegation of civil society comprised Agha Masood, Mubashir Mir, Manzar Naqvi and others.

Emphasising the need for an apolitical behaviour in academia, President Alvi advised the Federal Urdu University to come up with an initiative on developing software in order to detect plagiarism and promote Urdu as a medium of language by increasing the translation of best knowledge in Urdu.

“The availability of the best and popular translation work in the Urdu language can also eliminate illiteracy,” he added.