Speakers call for transforming higher education on modern lines

Speakers at the 3rd Rector’s Conference held here on Saturday highlighted the need to transform higher education on modern lines, following the technological advancement and trends practiced internationally. The conference was organized by the Association of Private Sector Universities of Pakistan (APSUP) in collaboration with COMSTECH, the Higher Education Commission, the Punjab Higher Education Commission, The Superior University and the Inter-University Consortium along with partner institutions. More than 80 Vice Chancellors/ Rectors of public and private universities from all over Pakistan and Islamic Universities from Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Kazakhstan participated in the conference. The Ambassador of Kazakhstan and diplomats of different OIC member states also graced the occasion. In his welcome address, the President of Preston University, Prof. Dr. Abdul Basit highlighted the idea, purpose and aim of the conference. He said today we are marking a paradigm shift by bringing public and private universities together to join hands for the single cause of education in Pakistan. The Coordinator General COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary said in his keynote address that this conference is important for education in Pakistan. He said the theme of the conference “education for economic development” is relevant and important. Prof. Choudhary expressed his gratitude to the Chairman of HEC for leading the re-institutionalization of the Pakistani education system. He emphasized the need for the introduction of international education culture in Pakistan. Rector, of Superior University, Dr. Sumaira Rahman said the mission of Superior University is to produce job creators not job seekers. She said that we found that the self-esteem of the students is very low and we started a program to boost the self-esteem of the students. She informed me that in a short period of two years our students have created 120 businesses, 1,240 new jobs, and 800 million in revenue. She shed light on Superior University’s programs and methods of delivering education. The Vice Chancellor of Al-Istiqama University, Nigeria, Prof. Salisu Shehu addressed the gathering on behalf of all African participating universities. He expressed his gratitude for the invitation and said that this participation not only provided us an opportunity of acquainted with the institutions but also an opportunity to experience the international system of education.. He said we feel the importance given by the government to education in Pakistan. He said the knowledge shared with us is extremely great. He appreciated Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary for inviting the initiating alliance of Islamic universities of Africa. He said we will take these experiences back to Africa with us to implement. Rector, of KAZGUU University Dr. Sergey Pen Provost, expressed his gratitude and said that we are striving to connect central Asian universities with the rest of the world. Chairman HEC, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, said in his keynote address that things are changing, systems are changing, and something in the past was important but in a few years has become history. He said if we do not adjust ourselves to the changing environment we will not be able to survive. He suggested that if we want to be successful tomorrow we need to put the effort in today. Dr. Mukhtar said that in today’s world there are fewer students inclined to join universities, why we are constructing such big buildings for universities? He suggested that don’t follow buzz words, and get prepared for future technologies. Dr. Mukhtar pointed out that in the days to come the degrees are going to have less importance. He said skilled people are making more money than those who have degrees, and this challenge needs to be considered by the university’s leadership. He said we need to focus on the product (students) more than the marketing. He said we have numbers but it is now time to shift the gear. The Chairman HEC informed us that we are going to start cloud computing, data centers, and supercomputers projects soon. He said that HEC is signing an agreement with Microsoft to offer 200,000 courses free of cost to Pakistani people. He also informed that 55000 courses from Coursera are being made available to the people of Pakistan to enhance their skills through online education. The Chairman suggested the leadership of public and private universities compete for quality, not for students, and offer courses online, help each other, do local networking, and try your best to help schools and colleges as well.