VCs asked to devise strategy to attract int’l students

LAHORE:Punjab Minister for Higher Education & IT Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz has said that Vice Chancellors (VCs) should devise a viable strategy to attract the international students to encourage diversity and internationalization at their campuses.

“To this, they need to adhere to the parameters of quality assurance, create an enabling and conducive learning environment, and ensure merit at their campuses,” he added. The minister was talking to VCs during a five-day Leadership and Management Programme at a local hotel here on Thursday. The programme training, which will conclude on Friday, is being organised by the Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) for honing managerial and leadership skills of the heads of public and private sector universities of Punjab.

Raja Yassir emphasised on harnessing IT for effective teaching-learning process, saying “the world has become smart, the classrooms also need to get smart.” He added universities needed to introduce innovative teaching tools and improve the visualisation and creativity of the students. He lauded the efforts of the PHEC and assured the fullest support of the government towards improving quality and access to higher education in Punjab.

Earlier, speaking to the participants during a session on Quality Assurance, the PHEC Chairman Prof Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid said that this was an era of Education 4.0, the modern technology had disrupted the existing practices in all areas; education was not an exemption. “Universities have to work in line with the parameters of the modern knowledge economy to enhance their visibility on global ranking radars”, he said. Dr Fazal maintained that education was one of the important goals of United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2015-30 for which Pakistan was a signatory.