Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Monday, highlighting importance of higher education, said it is imperative that maximum efforts should be made to improve it as a nation’s prosperous future is directly linked to meaningful investments in science and technology-led higher education.
Addressing the inaugural session of two-day COMSATS conference of vice chancellors, rectors, presidents of varsities, scholars, scientists, researchers and eminent academicians from all over the Islamic world the Prime Minister said, “In today’s knowledge-based global society, role of science and technology has assumed center-stage in the welfare and well being of the people.” The Prime Minister said, “We will have to make increasing investments in education in spite of numerous other competing demands and urged the universities to prepare their students appropriately and equip them with the most relevant skill-sets, suitable for the modern market place. He congratulated the organizers of the forum – ISESCO, Ministry of Science and Technology, Higher Education Commission and the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology on this wonderful initiative. “I really appreciate your timely initiative, foresight and extreme hard work in making this event possible.” The Prime Minister said he eagerly looked forward to the proceedings of the conference, which will result into sound, specific and practical recommendations.
“I am confident that the practical proposals will further strengthen our respective higher education systems in general and research and development in science and technology in particular.” He said indeed, modern life style is so fully infused with the foot prints of contemporary technologies, which a few decades back could not even be imagined. In last decade or so, he said, the technological advances have brought about a revolution both in ways of thinking and living.
Highlighting the results of science and technology from the West, the Prime Minister said, “We would find that almost all the modern creature comforts, the modern technologies, the modern goods and gadgets, the modern cures for diseases, the modern contributions to a variety of knowledge have all mainly come from the Western world.”
“We, the Muslims on the other hand, frankly speaking, are only the users and consumers of the fruits of hard work of others,” he added. The Prime Minister narrating the history of the Nobel Prize Awards, which dates back to 1901, said out of 825 individuals and 20 organizations Nobel Prizes winners, only nine hail from Muslim countries.
