‘Sharing knowledge and expertise on education’

Three-day event aims to discuss development of higher education sector, 13 regional countries' delegates attending.


Express November 09, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) will organise a policy dialogue aimed at sharing knowledge and expertise on the education sector between regional countries. An official from HEC said on Monday that the event will be held in collaboration with the British Council from November 23 to 25.

Addressing a press conference, Member Operation and Planning HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said that the symposium would explore ways in which the academia, policymakers and industrialists can work together to encourage knowledge transfer and support development within the higher education sector.

Over 35 delegates from around 13 regional countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan would attend the event.

Dr Ahmed said that the theme of this policy dialogue was defining the role and responsibilities of universities to contribute towards socio-economic development. He also highlighted the importance of national policies and initiatives to develop applied research. “Business partnerships between academia and commercial entities, to foster research and technology and applying innovative solutions, should be the focus of these sectors,” he said.

Through this policy dialogue, delegates will work towards an understanding of national policies, institutional approaches and outreach programmes, which would enable knowledge transfer for economic and social benefit.

Dr Ahmed said that the British Council has decided to provide funds for the purpose, while details of its usage would be announced at the event. The list of participants from each country would include one from each sector of academics, policymaking and industries.

He said that the HEC now wants to put into use the research it has conducted through policymaking and ‘each country should learn from other’s research and experience’. Focal persons would be appointed for each session during the symposium and all the Vice Chancellors from public sector universities would attend the conference on November 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9th, 2010.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ