Teachers are the heart and soul of education systems, who explore creative talents of their students and introduce them with new horizons of knowledge and learning. This was stated by Dr Attaur Rahman, Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC), while addressing the second 'Best University Teacher Award' ceremony here on Saturday.
The HEC hosted the award ceremony in order to honour the dedicated efforts of teachers for enhancing the academic environment of universities in the country. As many as 102 awards for the years of 2004, 2005 and 2006 were conferred on teachers of 51 universities. The award includes a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and a certificate.
Dr Rahman said the HEC is paying special attention to develop elevated faculty at all universities in the country, as 60 percent of its scholarships programs are designed for the faculty members.
Similarly, the HEC has awarded scholarships to the talented students of all disciplines. At present 2000 students are studying abroad and another 1200 would be sent for foreign studies this year, he said. He said the landscape of universities will begin to change once these students begin to return and 260 scholars are expected to return this year.
The HEC has adopted special policy to attract these brilliant people to opt for academia as a profession. The HEC has introduced 'Tenure Track System' which enables a professor earn more than Rs 300,000 a month. Similarly, university teachers are awarded a one step promotion along with a 75 percent tax rebate.
These steps have been taken to provide a financially secure environment to make them carefree and do justice to their profession, he said. He said the initiatives and achievements of the HEC have been admired by the best scientific journal 'Nature' in its November issue.
He urged the teachers to work hard in order to make their universities centers of academic excellence matching with the international standards. The chairman asked the vice chancellors to introduce new programs for afternoon session so that maximum students could get benefits of learning at the universities instead of studying privately.
Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Riazul Haque Tariq, Member Academics, said this award will augment the efforts of the teachers and will also add more zeal to excel in their respective fields. Dr Majeed Cheema of Balochistan University of Information Technology and Management Sciences and Farhana Khurshid of Fatima Jinnah University Rawalpindi, were honoured with the awards.