President AJK Welcomes Academic Collaborations With International Universities

President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan has said that concrete steps will be taken to enhance interactions between public sector universities of AJK and leading foreign universities to help boost the quality of higher education in AJK.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jun, 2018 ) :President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan has said that concrete steps will be taken to enhance interactions between public sector universities of AJK and leading foreign universities to help boost the quality of higher education in AJK.

The President made these remarks during a call on meeting by Punjab Minister for Human Rights, Minorities, Social Welfare and Population, Faisal Mushtaq and Vice Chancellor University of Wolverhampton Professor Geoff Layer at the Presidency here at Jammu and Kashmir House. They were accompanied by Dr Debbie Gilliland, Head of Transnational Education, University of Wolverhampton; Safia Farooqi, Dean of Academics, The Millennium University College Islamabad, and Sabina Zakir, Director Roots Millennium Schools.

President Masood Khan on the occasion also congratulated Faisal Mushtaq on assuming his charge as caretaker Minister in Punjab.

The President informed the Vice Chancellor that AJK has five public sector Universities which are focusing on cutting-edge disciplines.

He said that we have the distinction of establishing a dedicated women's university at Bagh. The Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST) is focusing on providing modern engineering courses, similarly the University of Poonch specializes in subjects related to agriculture and allied technologies, he added.

Professor Geoff Layer while appreciating the efforts of the AJK Government in promoting higher education said that their University wishes to explore new professional and academic relationships for enhancing collaborations in research and innovation with universities in AJK.

Masood Khan during a press briefing after the meeting said that by collaborating with prestigious universities of the world we will build high-quality technical education infrastructure at a tertiary level.

He said that we plan to initiate exchange programmes for students and faculty members, and also explore avenues for scholarship programmes.

He said that there is a need to encourage modern research and innovation in order to bring our universities on par with leading universities in the country and region.

The President informed that AJK with an educational score of 85 per cent has the highest educational score all over Pakistan.

He said we have excelled in overall retention, enrolment, gender parity and learning of students. "We have achieved quantitative goals and now aim to achieve qualitative goals through strong academics collaborations to help steer our students towards excellence by promoting research and innovation in modern disciplines", he said.