'AJK universities committed to bringing laurels to nation'

State president says people of Kotli offered unprecedented sacrifices in struggle for liberation of Jammu and Kashmir

KOTLI:

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan, while expressing pleasure over the fifth position of University of AJK among the universities all over Pakistan, has said that the public sector varsities of the state are proudly imparting the best education to their students.

“Our universities are not inferior to any big and old university of Pakistan and not lower than even world repute educational institutions in terms of quality of education,” he asserted.

He expressed these views while addressing an inaugural ceremony of the newly-constructed Students-Teachers Service Centre and laying the foundation stone of the academic block of the University of Kotli here on Thursday.

The centre has been constructed at a cost of Rs34.5 million while the construction of a new academic block will cost Rs1,040 million being provided by the Higher Education Commission. The function was also addressed by Vice-Chancellor Syed Dilnawaz Gardezi and other speakers.

Read more: India failing to buy off Kashmiris: Masood

The president said that the people of Kotli had offered unprecedented sacrifices in the struggle for the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir, now the University of Kotli located in the foothills of the valley is fast setting its own standards of education by introducing the world's best education to its students.

Masood recalled that during his visit to the University of Kotli a few years ago, he had witnessed small UAVs produced by the science students and he was highly impressed by their performance.

"These students will brighten the name of Pakistan as well as Azad Kashmir particularly Kotli," he said, adding that side by side with the modern research laboratories, the students can also take advantage of Google and the digital technology to advance their knowledge and research.

Paying tributes to teachers, the state president said that they are the architect of the future and they will produce future leaders of the nation and the country. He urged the student to acquire full command over the relevant subject, learn administrative skills and get the experience of personal management for success in future.

He lauded the vice chancellor for taking the university enrolment from 2,500 to 6,000 within a short span of time and also appreciated the briefing by the Nespak consultant on the project.

The AJK president, referring to his recent visit to around 10 universities during his trip to Turkey, said that he also witnessed the Islamic culture in these ultramodern educational institutions.

He asked the Nespak engineer to highlight Islamic and Kashmiri cultures in the construction of new blocks of the university. He also urged the teachers to promote love, fraternity and cooperation among themselves as well as the students.

In his address, Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Dilnawaz Gardezi thanked the state president for encouraging the staff and the administration of the university and said that a social sciences block, boys hostel, staff hostel and a sports complex would also be constructed in the university at a cost of Rs1.4 billion, and for this purpose, 381 Kanal of land has already been acquired.

He proudly disclosed that the university had produced more than 50 PhD scholars.