VCs’ forum: Government urged to invest in youth

Bazai said focus should be paid on home grown technology, which will open ways for entrepreneurship.

ISLAMABAD:

The only thing Pakistan needs to do is to invest in its youth and give millions access to higher education.

Balochistan University of Information and Technology Vice Chancellor Farooq Bazai said this on the second day of the Vice Chancellors’ Forum, while talking to The Express Tribune.

Bazai said that there was a missing link between Pakistani universities and the industry to accommodate the teeming millions.

He said that focus should be paid on home grown technology, which will not only be cost-effective but also open ways for entrepreneurship and encourage development sector.

Rector of Trakya University Balkan Yener Youruk, when asked about lack of research and innovation in the Islamic world, said that all Muslim countries were directly or indirectly facing some sort of violence and in a state of war. “Under such circumstances, what could be expected from them,” he said.

He was confident of signing over 10 memorandums of understanding with various Pakistani and international universities in the higher education sector. He suggested that Muslim countries should develop a consortium, like the European Union, for promoting quality education.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2013.