‘PHEC to link academia with industry’

LAHORE:

Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Chairperson Muhammad Nizamuddin said on Friday that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had called on the PHEC on the day of its inauguration to play a leading role in addressing the socio-economic challenges confronting the province.

He said the chief minister had expressed hope that the commission would establish the groundwork for effective industry-academia linkages in league with the varsities. Nizamuddin said Sharif had also expressed the hope that they would emphasise the importance of research saying this would contribute to prosperity in the province.

He said the chief minister had aired these views in meetings with vice-chancellors and commission members.

The chairperson said the commission had been mandated to promote effective and result-oriented industry-academia linkages as this had been languishing for decades. He said the chief minister had also instructed the PHEC to formulate recommendations regarding the promotion of industry-academia linkages and revamping higher education in accordance with the socio-economic needs of the province in cooperation with relevant stakeholders.

Nizamuddin said the commission had joined hands with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to organise region-wise stakeholders’ consultations in cities across the Punjab.

He said the results of these consultations would form the crux of a report that would be presented to the chief minister.

The first consultation on this account was organised on Friday at COMSATS’s Sahiwal campus. The initiative will be replicated in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi. Vice-chancellors, policy specialists, representatives of chambers of commerce and industry, civil society and journalists are set to participate in the meetings.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2015.