Pakistani youth are highly talented, proving their mettle all over the world, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Friday. He said that Pakistani students, who won top position in an international debating contest, had made the whole nation proud.
The Chief Minister also announced setting up of a Chief Minister's Debating Society in two weeks. He was talking Friday with members of Pakistan's debating team which won first position in the global debating contest. Provincial Education Minister Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Special Assistant Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Secretaries Higher Education and Schools, Chairmen of Punjab Information Technology Board and Punjab Youth Council were also present on the occasion. Congratulating the debating team, he said that the provincial government had been arranging writing and speech contests for students for the past four and a half years. He said that such contests polished the talent of students and promoted confidence among them.
He directed that such activities should be encouraged at all academic institutions in addition to academic and co-curricular activities in universities, colleges and schools. Similarly, he said, such competitions should also be held between students of Daanish Schools and other educational institutions across Punjab.
Setting up a committee headed by Provincial Minister for Education Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, the Chief Minister asked it to arrange such contests between educational institutions of Punjab and other provinces, besides taking steps for the establishment of a Chief Minister's Debating Society. As many as 45 countries including the United States, South Korea, Britain, Canada and South Africa took part in PDC 2012 arranged by Idea Youth Forum Mexico.
Pakistan's debating team won the first position by defeating the South Korean team in the finals. The Chief Minister awarded a cheque of Rs 500,000 to members of the Pakistani debating team. Pakistan's debating team comprised Azeem Liaquat of the Salamat International Campus for Advanced Studies, Lahore, Ahmed Shujaan of the Atchison College and Zainab Hameed of Karachi Grammar School.