Youth festivals: ‘Pakistan’s future depends on the youth’

36 different stalls have been set up at the GCUF Hockey Ground. These are selling cultural and food items.

FAISALABAD:

Commissioner Tahir Hussain said on Tuesday that Pakistan’s future depended on the youth who needed to be educated and skilled.

He was chairing the inaugural ceremony of four-day competitions programme under the Punjab Youth Festival at the Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF).

GCUF Vice Chancellor Prof Zakir Hussain, the chief guest, said the festival would help the students test their skills by providing them with a platform to conceive innovative ideas and show their talent. He said the festival would also enhance their confidence.

He said the government was committed to taking revolutionary steps for the improvement of the education facilities and making them accessible to everyone.

He said: “Pakistan needs to take tangible steps to educate the youth.” He said hundreds of scholarships were being given to talented students under the Punjab Educational Endowment Fund (PEEF) that would give the country a trained manpower.

He said: “The best investment in the world is in education.” He also stressed the need for creating awareness among masses.

He said in the era of information technology, computers updated knowledge within no time.

GCUF Dean Prof Shahbaz Arif and Students Affairs Director Mazhar Hayat praised the distribution of laptops by the provincial government..They said it would give opportunity to students to access modern research.

Dean Prof Naureen Aziz Qureshi, Registrar Mohammad Ayub, Human Resource Director Sheikh Akram, Dr Tahir Taunsvi and Admin Director Chaudhry Mushtaq were also present.

The festival included a dress show, a handicrafts and paintings show, technical projects, cultural projects, a national anthem singing competition and screening of a short film. As many as 36 stalls have been set up at the GCUF Hockey Ground.

Meanwhile, addressing a gathering at the Iqbal Auditorium of the University of Agriculture here on Tuesday, UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Iqrar Ahmad said the Punjab Youth Festival was providing a vibrant platform to the youth to show their talent. He applauded the efforts of students who participated in various programs to make the festival more colorful and stressed the need for organising such events to highlight the hidden talent of the youth.

Earlier, Senior Tutor Aslam Pervaiz, in his welcome address, said students were participating in eight different segments and the UAF was hosting five events. He said a business plan competition, a flower show, a drama competition, a photography competition and a poetry completion were being organised by his office.

The vice chancellor inaugurated the flowers show at the Library of the Institute of Horticultural Sciences. The themes of flower arrangements were hope, loneliness, and peace. Students from the UAF and the GCUF arranged flowers. Urfa bin Tahir, Faria Azhar and Waleed Abdullah clinched 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions under “hope” respectively. Nazish Jabeen, Shaiza Rasul and Farwa Battol grabbed top positions under “loneliness”, whereas the competition under “peace” was won by Behzad Rafiq of UAF, Ruba Naz of GCUF and Farwa Batool of UAF, respectively.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2012.