Higher education needs to be improved, says CM

LAHORE:Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi chaired a meeting to review the higher education sector at his office on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by former federal minister Moonis Elahi, former HEC chairman Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, Advisor Amir Saeed Raan, former principal secretary GM Sikander, UET VC Syed Mansoor Sarwar, Rector Pak Austrian Haripur Prof Mujahid, Prof Waqar Mahmood and secretaries of higher education, finance, C&W, P&D departments.

The Chief Minister stressed the need to improve the standard of the higher education sector according to the needs of the era while the meeting decided to introduce high technology education culture. Specialised discipline would be introduced in universities for industrial product development.

The Chief Minister said and added that a hundred-acre state-of-the-art engineering university would be developed to meet the industrial needs of Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sialkot. The University of Applied Engineering and Engineering Technologies would be affiliated with world-renowned specialized universities, he noted.

The expertise of foreign experts would also be sought, he added. The foreign experts of the relevant sector would be included in the governing body of the university as there is a need to give the latest technological education to the youth to meet modern-day needs, the Chief Minister concluded. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has felicitated Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman on the nomination as the first Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia and extended good wishes to him. In a statement, the CM expressed the hope that Saudi Arabia would touch new heights of development under the leadership of PM Muhammad Bin Salman.

Prince Muhammad Bin Salman is a statesman and the Saudi economy and defence would be further strengthened under his leadership, he added. The bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia would also be bolstered, he said and added that the Saudi royal family has rendered invaluable services for Islam and Muslims.

PNWC delegation meets ministers: The participants of the 52nd course of Pakistan Navy War College (PNWC) Lahore under the leadership of Commandant Commodore Rear Admiral Shifaat Ali Khan on Wednesday visited the Chief Minister’s Office.

Minister for Environment, Cooperatives and Parliamentary Affairs Basharat Raja and Provincial Minister for Higher Education Raja Yasir Humayoun welcomed the delegation on behalf of Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.

The 111-member delegation from the Naval War College included 14 faculty members and 42 officers from friendly countries. Chief Secretary Punjab Abdullah Khan Sumbal briefed the delegation about initiatives and development projects of the Punjab government. The provincial ministers and the chief secretary also answered the questions of the participants of the PNWC course.

Basharat Raja, while addressing the officers, said the PNWC established in Lahore was a unique and prestigious institution for advanced training of armed forces. “I am happy that the officers of Pakistan Army, Air Force and friendly countries are also being trained in the college”, exclaimed the minister.

He said that under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of Punjab this year, work was underway on 3,791 ongoing and 1,133 new schemes. “Under Sehat Insaf Card initiative, the entire population of Punjab has been provided with universal health coverage and 125 billion rupees have been allocated for Sehat Card scheme this year”, he said.

He said that the rate of utilization of development funds in the province reached the highest level. “An environment endowment fund of 103.5 billion rupees has been established under the Punjab Green Development Program”, Raja added.