President Dr Arif Alvi here Tuesday said that quality education and character building of students were imperative for progress and prosperity of Pakistan.
Addressing the 26th convocation of Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Science and Technology, Topi Swabi, the president said besides Islam, our rich culture, history and the society had laid great emphasis on education and character building of students and asked educational institutions to focus in this direction to make the country economically strong and prosperous.
Eulogizing the educational services of GIK Institute of Science and Technology Topi Swat, he said the parents should also deserve appreciation for enabling their children to read in country’s top educational institute. He said those parents, who visited abroad for employment had a great desire to concentrate on character building and personality development of their children, adding additional responsibilities laid on the guardians and teachers to focus on character development of all students whose parents were working overseas.
The president said he was a chancellor of about 40 to 42 universities having a close contact with the senate and executive board of GIK Institute and found that this premier educational institution was going in the right direction. He urged students to recite the famous Dua (prayer) of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Musa (AS) on which he had prayed Allah Almighty to open his chest by granting self-confidence, contentment and boldness and ease his task, and make loose knot (the defect) from his tongue so that they understand his speech. He said everything could be achieved in life by strictly adhering to this famous Dua of Hazrat Musa AS.
The president said cases Islamphobia had been increased in the neigbouring eastern country. He said that Pakistan was created on the basis of Two-Nation Theory and today’s the vision of fore fathers, who created an independent state for the Muslims of Subcontinent in the shape of Pakistan was proved correct after witnessing rising cases of Islamophiba and human rights violations against minorities especially Muslims in the neighbouring eastern country.
The president said great freedom fighters Syed Ahmad Shaheed and Shah Ismail had embraced Shahadat (Martyrdom) while fighting for independence of Muslims against colonial rulers and Sikhs at Balakot.
He said the renaissance movement started by the great Sir Syed Ahmad Khan for education, social and political empowerment of Muslims was carried forward by the great poet of the east, Dr Muhammad Iqbal and was successfully concluded by the Father of the Nation, Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah in the shape of Pakistan on August 14, 1947. He said Pakistan was created after a lot of sacrifices and it was the responsibility of all of us including students to work tirelessly for its strengthening and prosperity.
The president said Pakistan was a strong country and its people had faced all difficult situations with steadfastness, great courage and moral spirit. He said the country had successfully come out of all difficult challenges whether it was 2005 devastated earthquake or 2010 floods or war against terrorism or corona virus pandemic. He paid tributes to sacrifices of people of KP and the armed forces of Pakistan that helped restore peace in the country.
The president said Pakistan had accommodated over four million Afghans refugees for the last four decades. He said the country’s had all the potential to join the club of developed states by taking accurate decisions in the right direction.
Dr Arif Alvi said there was a lot of scope for IT, agriculture, science and technology and others disciplines and urged students to work with dedication and passion by using their knowledge for service of humanity and development of Pakistan. He said the conventional education system, i.e. memorizing lessons’ was replaced mostly by computers. He said education was a continuous learning and thinking process, adding “we can achieve laurels by making investment on human resource development.”
Dr Alvi said fake news had emerged as a big challenge and we should be very careful while disseminating news.
The president said he had also raised the issue of fake news in the Parliament, and that all news should be confirmed before broadcast or publishing to avoid chaos in society. Later, the president awarded degrees to 10 PhD scholars and gold medals to 14 position holders students.
