Business needs: Business education must meet top standards, says President

Calls for necessary changes to be made to curricula.

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Monday urged necessary changes to business education in order to meet international standards and make it more relevant to the demands of modern industries and enterprises.

In his inaugural address at the Deans and Directors Conference on “Emerging Challenges of Business Schools in Pakistan - 2014” at the President House, Hussain said education and skilled human resources were the real asset of a nation and there was an urgent need to upgrade the education system in Pakistan to increase it.



“I have full faith in our institutions, educationists and academia to convert these challenges into opportunities,” the president told eminent academics, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs — both from within the country and abroad.

The event was organised jointly by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and National Business Education Accreditation Council (NBEAC).

Hussain urged business schools to ensure an adequate level of competence and affordable quality education by globalising their faculty as well as their curricula. This would train students to become globally responsible business leaders, he said. In this context the role of private sector institutions was important, stressed the president.

This also applies to public sector business schools to upgrade their standing through continuous development to meet the demands of professional competence in a competitive environment.

“The current trends call for increased focus on international partnerships, internships and student exchange programmes to upgrade the level of education and competence of business learning,” said Hussain. He pointed out the use of new technologies and non-traditional media were making a niche in management teaching.

He stressed the genuine need to catch up with modern trends and said it was also crucial for business schools in Pakistan they meet international standards.

He said forward-looking business schools around the world were beginning to implement changes to their curricula, marketing strategies and partnerships to face the challenges of an increasingly competitive business education market of the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2014.

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