President Stresses Achieving 100pc Enrolment In Primary, Higher Education

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jan, 2023 ) :President Dr Arif Alvi called upon all stakeholders on Thursday to ensure that all school going children are admitted to schools and all FSc qualified students are admitted to higher educational institutions (HEIs).

Addressing the convocation of Virtual University of Pakistan (VU) here, he said, "Our rate of Primary enrolment is only 68 per cent compared to other regional countries' rate of over 98 per cent, whereas higher education enrolment is only 9 per cent compared to around 60 per cent of other regional countries." This, he said, was not sufficient to provide much needed quality human resources required for achieving accelerated socioeconomic growth in the country.

The convocation was attended by the VU faculty and students and their parents.

The president said that all children of school going age should be admitted to schools and no child should be left behind, as education was essential for the country's development. He said that as compared to other countries in the South Asian region, Pakistan had a low enrolment rate of 68 per cent at the primary education level, whereas it was over 98 per cent in other countries.

He said that the low enrolment rate at primary level was alarming and worrisome for the entire nation. The president said that universities usually take pride in refusing admissions to thousands of students, who wanted to pursue their higher education goals. That practice on the part of higher educational institutions was deplorable and should be discouraged. He called upon the government and relevant HEIs of the country to ensure 100 per cent admission of all students seeking higher education by increasing their capacity to substantially increase the number of graduates, equipped with quality higher education, using online and blended modes of learning.

Dr Arif Alvi said that an educated youth and a skilled workforce were the most essential ingredients for moving forward, but unfortunately the pace of producing IT educated youth of 27,000 per year was extremely low as compared to the neighbouring country, which was producing almost 800,000 IT graduates every year. He highlighted that the most practical and speedy way to fill the gap between the required number of graduates was shifting our education system to internet-based online and hybrid modes, which were now increasingly being practised very successfully in different countries.

The president said the Muslim societies in the past became afraid of gaining new knowledge; they were hesitant to adopt innovation, inventions and progress, made in scientific, social and management fields and, therefore, were left far behind many countries.

He said famous education campaigner in the Subcontinent, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, rightly realised the importance of education and knowledge after the war of independence in 1857, and urged Muslims to gain knowledge and education, which was the lynchpin of gaining back the lost glory and supremacy. He regretted that "till date we are unable to act upon his advice, as unfortunately only 68 per cent of our children are admitted to schools at the primary level". He said that by starting now and taking appropriate actions, it would take only 10 years to achieve 100 per cent enrolment rate target.

President Alvi said, "As a nation we need to shift our focus from power politics, and shift it to providing quality education to our children and youth." He said that the government, Higher Education Commission and educational institutions, both in private and public sectors, should devise concrete and speedy pathways to ensure that no student was denied admission to higher education on any pretext or for any reason.

The president said that Allama Iqbal Open University and the VU were doing an excellent job of providing cost-effective and quality education to the youth and endorsed the VU's plan to provide virtual education to Afghanistan, Muslim and other countries, which were in need of cost-effective quality education.

Earlier, Rector VU Prof Dr Arshad Saleem Bhatti said that the Virtual University, established in 2002, was providing higher education and skill training in the IT sector to the country's youth and had become one of the largest universities in Pakistan in terms of student enrolment. He said that 160,000 students were currently enrolled in various programmes of the VU, whereas 8,000 foreign students were also getting education through enrolment with the university. He added that the VU was providing the most cost-effective, flexible, inclusive and accessible higher education in the country, besides providing scholarships and awards to the deserving students. He said that the VU was also working on development of courses and content for the differently-abled persons.

The president also conferred degrees, and distributed gold medals and merit certificates among the top performing graduates of the VU.