Universities' Role Crucial Towards Human Resource Development: President

Universities' role crucial towards human resource development: President

President Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that universities had crucial role towards human resource development, which ultimately contribute towards socio-economic progress of the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Apr, 2019 ) :President Dr. Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that universities had crucial role towards human resource development, which ultimately contribute towards socio-economic progress of the country.

He directed the universities to streamline and expand student-centric initiatives, in order to provide the student academic and career counseling, mentoring, alumni facilities and information on transparent admissions etc.

Chairing a meeting of Vice Chancellors/Heads of Universities at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the President said that good governance and research-oriented quality education in universities were major prerequisites to get place in international rankings.

Federal Minister for Federal Education & Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood and Chairman, HEC Dr. Tariq Banuri were also present on the occasion.

The President emphasized upon the importance of creating a linkage between academic research and the public policy formulation process. He underscored that industry of Pakistan cannot develop without collaboration of the universities.

He pointed out that there was lack of academia-industry linkage in Pakistan and added that strong University-Industry relationship at national and international levels was required to be established.

He underscored that 4th Industrial Revolution trends such as internet of Things, Robotics, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence were changing the way of life and work. Furthermore, he stressed that professional trainings should be imparted in the fields of art, journalism, hospitality, environment and forestry.

The President directed to formulate a committee to work on review of curricula and duration of study period for various degrees. This committee should also review quality compliance and standardization across higher education sectors, he added. He also emphasized to expand the horizon of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). He asked the universities to build the capacity to teach adoption of double entry accounting system.

The President directed the Vice Chancellors to develop and strengthen international collaborations between Pakistani universities and reputed foreign universities in order to benefit from each other experiences.

He also urged the VCs to prepare students keeping in view the requirements of 4th Industrial Revolution. He further highlighted the importance of involving competent administrators and academicians in education sector.