‘Higher education road map will empower youth’

Minister says quality teaching empowers students to grow as leaders

LAHORE: The Punjab Government’s Higher Education Roadmap will not only improve overall quality of higher education institutions but will also empower youth through improved quality education and research-based activities, said Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani.

He was addressing the Science Exhibition, 2017 at the Queen Marry College on Wednesday.

The minister said the aim of the roadmap is to improve educational standards so that the students could excel through the strong support provided in shape of education and research-based activities.

“For this purpose, the Punjab Government has been continuously promoting higher education sector so that this tier could be developed according to needs and requirements of the international standards,” he added.

Highlighting the importance of higher education in the national development process, he said that higher education institutions conspicuously strengthen the agenda of national development and prosperity by developing students as talented youth leaders to handle national affairs in their practical life.

“Higher education improves an individual's quality of life. It is also a critical component of human development, worldwide. In fact, education empowers them to grow as confident and forward-looking leaders”.

The Punjab government has continuously been promoting the higher education by providing sufficient funds to encourage research and innovation related activities, he added.

The minister further said that women, being half of the total population, were important in national development and their education was being given equal importance. “The science projects displayed in this exhibition show that our female students have rich talents which should be fully exploited,” he added.

The promotion of co-curricular activities, including holding of such exhibitions, would further strengthen students with enhanced intellectual ken and future-vision to prosper in life, he said.

“In addition, there is growing evidence that higher education, through its role in empowering youth, building institutions, and nurturing favourable regulatory frameworks and governance structures, is vital to a country’s efforts to increase social capital and to promote social cohesion, which is proving to be an important determinant of economic growth and development,” he added.

The minister also visited different stalls and appreciated the students who designed useful projects covering various spheres of life.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2017.