The participants of seminar organised here at the National Library Islamabad on the topic of “Development of Country to Country Relationships in Higher Education Sector of Pakistan”, said that higher education is very crucial for the socio-economic development of the country. International cooperation had been greatly helpful in training human resource and undertaking faculty development in higher education sector in Pakistan, the participants said.
The seminar was jointly organised by Inter University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences Pakistan, the Diplomatic Insight and American Institute of Pakistan Studies and was presided over by National Committee on Development of Social Sciences chairperson and University of Gujrat Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin. The seminar was attended by vice chancellors, diplomats, academicians, civil society members and scholars. Farhat Asif conducted the proceedings of seminar.
Delivering keynote address, Prof. Dr Sohail H Naqvi, former executive director Higher Education Commission (HEC) said that the young bright minds were the greatest asset of Pakistan. He said that after realising this fact, more attention was paid by the persons concerned to this important segment of society in higher education sector of Pakistan during the last ten years.
He informed that young Pakistanis were provided opportunities to equip themselves with modern knowledge and technology in the leading universities of academically advanced countries.
The pool of these trained and educated young people had been very helpful in overcoming the shortage of skilled human resource and qualified faculty in Pakistan. These Pakistani scholars had performed exceptionally well and the success rate of the attainment of PhD degree had been more than 95 percent. The hard work and intelligence level of Pakistani scholars had also been acknowledged by the officials and academicians of partner countries.
Transparency of the process was ensured through an open advertisement in national newspapers and on the HEC website. The merit at each level for short listing was determined by test score/ scores in previous exams. In addition, the final selection of candidates for foreign scholarships was undertaken by panels of professors and experts from foreign countries, without the involvement of the HEC.
All the scholarships were finally awarded through National Scholarship Management Committee (NSMC), constituted by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Higher education crucial for country’s development
