Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Friday said that research-based education is inevitable to achieve sustainable goals of development and addressing the challenges faced by the country.
He was addressing a ceremony held in connection with the ‘World PhysiologyDay’ at the Government College University Faisalabad in collaboration with the Department of Physiology, Physiological Society London and Physiology Society Pakistan.
The state minister urged students to focus on research, innovation and technology based education for permanent solution to problems and to compete with the rest of the world.
He termed the students ‘Shaheen of Iqbal’ and said that they had to lead the country in the days to come so they should equip themselves with modern knowledge.
He said that academia-industry linkages are prerequisite to pave the way for building up a knowledge-based economy and addressing the different issues at national level.
He termed the university’s lab one of the best labs in world’s universities and urged the need for encouraging scholars working in the field of research.
The minister said that the government had increased Rs 15 billion research budget besides provision of 50,000 scholarships to talented students in the field of education and research.
He said that the government was providing loans to the youth under ‘Kamyab Jawan Programme’ and an amount of Rs 10 billion had been allocated under the programme. At least 1,000 research scholarships are also being provided to researchers, he said.
The state minister said that for the first time in the country’s history, the government had allocated an amount of Rs 100 billion under different programmes especially designed for the youth.
He said that promotion of education was among the top most priorities of the government and people were providing opportunities of imparting higher education near to their homes.
The Punjab government has established more than a dozen universities in different cities, he added.
He said that the number of youth is 60 per cent of the total population in the country hence we should collectively work hard to change the fate of the country.
He said that many reforms like automation were being introduced in the Higher Education Commission.
He said that Ehsaas Scholarship Portal was open by Nov 30 and the students could benefit from this portal for meeting their educational expenses.
He said that the government had provided 200,000 scholarships to students while 50,000 more scholarships were being provided.
He said that foreign funded scholarships were also being increased under the National Programme for Research. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had increased 35 per cent salaries of teachers and other government employees and now the government was going to increase 100 per cent salary on the basis of extraordinary performance.
State Minister Farrukh Habib said that the government had set up a Knowledge Task Force and allocated funds of Rs 10 billion. Noted scientist and educationist Dr Attaur Rehman is the head of the task force, he added.
He said that the government was also providing high-tech skills to 100,000 youth in the country while 25,000 youth after getting certification were serving in different departments/ institutes.
He said that extracurricular activities should also be promoted in the universities for the physical fitness of the youth.
The government allocated Rs 2 billion for skills polishing and academies were being established in 13 universities. He said that ‘Kamyab Facilitation Centres’ were also being established in universities for polishing the abilities of students. He said the government had also allocated Rs 100 billion and loans up to Rs 1 million on 3 to 5 percent markup were being provided to youth for the starting business. At least 26,000 youth have so far availed this opportunity, he said. Prof Dr Haseeb Anwar, Prof Dr Ferhat Jabin and others also spoke on the occasion.
Later, shields and gifts were distributed among winners of poster competitions, stall holders.
