Welcoming the federal government's initiatives for promotion of higher education in the provinces, at a meeting he was chairing in Peshawar, the NWFP Governor, Lieutenant General Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai (Retd), is reported to have stressed the need for more concrete measures for the development of new institutions in the far flung areas of the province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas alike.
Needless to point out, the emphasis he laid on this aspect of education should appeal to reason. As he elaborated on its viability, he made a pointed reference to its vast potential in terms of largely least explored natural resources awaiting establishment of new institutions, basically, devoted to harnessing them.
In this context, reference may also be made to his observation that while concrete efforts were already under way for introduction of new disciplines and development of modern institutions, the dire need was still there of building institutions not only for promotion of awareness amongst the masses but also for exploitation of indigenous resources too.
More to this, the Governor did well to point to the agriculture sector in which the scope of such effort was all the more discernible, and particularly in the long neglected spheres of animal husbandry and medicinal herbs in the province as well as in Fata.
As for the scope of higher education institutions in the agriculture related disciplines, little should be left to doubt about his exhortation for establishment of new campuses in such areas, as have remained neglected rather too long in the past. It will also be noted that the NWFP Governor lauded the ongoing initiatives of the Higher Education Commission for faculty development in universities, as also for improvement of infrastructure facilities.
At the same time, he invited attention to addressing the issue of brain drain too, thereby making no secret of fully supporting the ideas and aspirations of the heads of various universities, while pointedly referring to the efforts they had been making from time to time.
This was notably why he also urged the need of taking more effective measures to ensure sustenance of policies, especially, in matters of faculty development. As such, while laying emphasis on quality education, the Governor also called for uniform policy in this regard, which he said could go a long way towards ensuring better future for the coming generations.
Again, referring to the demands of various universities, especially, for development of infrastructure along with faculties, the Governor also fully supported their proposals.
Significantly, the Chairman of Higher Education Commission, Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rehman, who attended the meeting, besides representatives of the provincial higher education department and vice chancellors of all the public sector universities, in his remarks dwelt upon steps being taken by the Federal Government on promotion of higher education in the province, noting that each initiative should be compatible with the given standards set by the Commission.
According to him, the HEC was already sponsoring thousands of scholarships in the institutions of international repute, hoping that on their return to the country, things would definitely change to a great extent. Moreover, he also laid emphasis on processing new recruitment in faculties, at least, six months ahead of retirement of the existing staff members.
All in all, he will be seen as having corroborated the views of the NWFP Governor on the issue of higher education institutions, also focusing more purposeful development of the long neglected exploitation of full resource potential of the NWFP and Fata.
Comments
Comments are closed.