Punjab University Hailey College of Commerce on Sunday organised a colorful orientation ceremony, which was presided over by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran. PU Dean Faculty of Commerce Professor Dr Ehsan Malik, Principal Hailey College of Commerce Professor Dr Liaqat Ali, faculty members, a large number of students and their parents participated in the ceremony.
Addressing the gathering, the Vice-Chancellor said that after Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, no any national leader had recognised the importance of education. He said that education had not been in the priority of leaders and it was a must for respectable survival in the world. Throwing light on Punjab University's academic developments, he said that PU was spending 4 million in 2007 on research projects while in the past three years, the amount had been increased to over 70 million, which spoke the volume of increasing research activities in the varsity. He said that in 2007, the number of research publications was 162 and after three years it had increased to 352 in 2010 because of which Punjab University had improved its ranking. He said that before 2007, there was an average of 41 PhDs a year but now more than 100 PhDs were being produced annually. He said that in 2007, only 27 books were published but in 2010, 65 books were published by the faculty members. He said that in 2007, only 29 percent faculty members were holding PhDs while now over 39 percent faculty members were PhD despite many senior professors had also retired.
The VC said that lack of education was the root cause of all the current problems faced by the country in the current situation. He urged the politicians to allocate at least four percent of GDP to education sphere. He said India was spending 48 billion dollars and China was spending 250 billion dollars on education while Pakistan was spending less than 3 billion dollars, which was not an encouraging figure. He said that it was shameful that Pakistan stood 187th out of 193 nations who spent lesser amount of GDP on education. He said that Pakistan had much talent but there was lack of people who could utilise that talent and put the talented people on the right way.
He said that Americans were full of capabilities, they didn't speak lie and were fair in routine matters but all the resources of the USA were captured by a handful of rich families. They, within and outside the borders of the United States, rule the American government and all the key players were under their control. He said that the families owned all the banks and over 80 percent of media and didn't let any material be published against them. He said that these people had imposed wars on the nations for their interest and for the sake of one world order. He said that over 400 US institutions were working only on the agenda that how the thinking of American people could be kept on a specific track.
The VC urged the students to be aware of all these circumstances. He urged them to create habit of study within themselves and had a strong grasp over their subjects. He advised them if they were on key position in future or if they found opportunity to meet rulers and politicians, do request them to increase allocation of budget to education.
While welcoming the gathering, Principal Hailey College of Commerce Professor Dr Liaqat Ali threw light on the significance of history of the college and informed the students about the academic progress of the HCC. He said that the college had produced so many bigwigs who had played and were playing important role in the political and economic affairs of the country. He said that it was landmark achievement of the college that it now had 5 PhDs and two would join soon. He said that remarkably, the college had started MPhil programme last year and now it intended to start its PhD programme soon. He said that the college had the most competent teachers and it had ensured discipline in its premises. He said that workshops, seminars, tutorials etc would be organised for the students and they could also benefit from college's library hoarding over 35,000 books. He said that the college had state-of-the-art computer lab and fully equipped classrooms with multi-media. He said that the college would provide all the facilities to the students in academic and extra-curricular activities. He advised the student that being a Hailian was privilege but there was also a responsibility on the shoulders of the students and that's why they must ensure discipline on the campus.