Punjab University (PU) is preparing national education policy which would soon be presented to the government, said PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad. He was addressing the first national conference on 'Education Policy and Development 2019' with the theme of 'Education for Social Justice and Quality System' here Friday. He said that the university administration and faculty members were also preparing economic, trade, environment, science and technology policies for development of the country. He said higher education was linked with socio-economic growth and universities must play their role for uplifting country.
He said that technology was rapidly changing in the world and today was the era of knowledge-based economy. He said that like National Action Plan, we must impose emergency in the field of higher education. He said that maximum funding should be provided to higher education sector to compete with universities of developed countries, create knowledge and produce a civilized society.
Former Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Prof Dr Nizammudin has said that there was need to create specialized universities and community colleges to produce skilled graduates according to the demand of government and industry. He said that the government and industry should present demand to the academic institutions regarding the requirements of graduates in various fields.
Former VC Allama Iqbal Open University Prof Dr Shahid Siddiqui said that the only difference between the developed and developing countries was knowledge. He said that knowledge was directly connected to power and politics.
He said that through power we controlled bodies and through knowledge we controlled minds, and the later was more important. Therefore, the government must allocate at least four percent of GDP to education, he added. Quoting Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he said that education was a matter of life and death for the nation.