Call to align education with needs

Speakers at an international summit on higher education Friday emphasised the need to align Pakistan’s higher education sector with emerging needs and trends in an ever-changing socio-economic landscape.

The conference was organised by USAID’s Higher Education System Strengthening Activity.

Federal Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain highlighted the importance of readjusting the higher education system in accordance with emerging needs and trends.

The summit brought together approximately 40 national and international experts from various fields to speak to about 160 participants, the statement said.

The conference served as a means for establishing a community of practitioners among higher education institutions and to launch subsequent policy dialogues to enrich the higher education policy-making process, it further read.

The communique also stated that the sessions focused on improving the market value of degree programmes, including dialogues on challenges and opportunities, how practices differ amongst Pakistani universities, and how they could be aligned with international best practices.

A key topic was the effects of the recent floods on the higher education sector and how to advance climate education at different levels.

The final session of the summit chaired by Federal Minister Sherry Rehman also explored linkages between higher education and climate change resilience.

The experts emphasised the need for more interdisciplinary research and knowledge, on both, the prediction side and the adaptation front, the statement said.

Addressing the participants, Sherry Rehman said Pakistan is among the most climate affected countries in the world and has been affected by massive floods many times in the recent past.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 3^rd, 2022.