Condolence: ‘Model schools will nurture more Arfas’

University of Agriculture hosts reference to mark chehlum.

FAISALABAD:

The Punjab government is committed to setting up model educational institutes in the province that will nurture brilliant students like Arfa Karim, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Nasim Sadiq said on Sunday.

The DCO was addressing a condolence reference for Arfa Karim, the youngest person to get Microsoft certification, in connection with her chehlum.

The reference was organised at Senate Hall of the University of Agriculture to commemorate Arfa’s services and the goodwill she earned for the country.

Sadiq said model educational institutes would train the youth and make the country competitive.

UAF Vice Chancellor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan and Arfa’s father Amjad Karim, attended the event as guests of honour.

The DCO read out Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s message in which he prayed for the departed soul. He said the CM was determined that the government was making the efforts to provide quality education to the youth of the Punjab.

The DCO said state-of-the-art Danish Schools were being set up in Jaranwala and Ghulam Muhammad Abad.

He said that Arfa Karim had brought a good name to the country and had become a beacon of hope for Pakistani youngsters.

He said that the Pakistani youth had great potential. All they required was an environment where they could prove their mettle.

Dr Khan, the UAF VC, urged the youth to follow in Arfa Karim’s footprints. He said she had wanted Pakistan to be recognised as a progressive nation.

“With professional skills, you can end hunger from the country,” he said. The vice chancellor said that universities were catalysts in student development.

Arfa’s father, Amjad Karim, said it was a matter of pride for him that both his family and the country had earned respect through Arfa.

He thanked the chief minister for his support and for naming the IT Park in Lahore after the deceased prodigy. He also urged Pakistani parents to pay special attention to their children in their early years of education.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2012.