BAHAWALPUR - The four-day high-level consultative meeting on Education Policy-2021 on the direction of Federal Ministry of Education and Vocational Training at Islamia University Bahawalpur (IUB) concluded here on Thursday.
The closing session was presided over by Vice-Chancellor of Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Prof. Dr Sajjad Ahmad Khan while Commissioner Bahawalpur Division Capt (retd) Zafar Iqbal was the chief guest on this occasion.
The commissioner addressed the gathering and appreciated the convening of a high-level consultative meeting on National Education Policy at IUB. He said the teachers have a key role to play in national development and nation-building.
The education is not a teacher’s profession but a mission. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had clarified the educational policy in his speech at Dhaka University immediately after the establishment of Pakistan.
He said that a large part of the resources would be devoted to the education sector. We need to focus on research and development and keep ourselves abreast of rapidly changing global conditions. In this regard, teachers should prepare students for this global competitive race.
In his address, IUB Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr Athar Mahboob said that knowledge is the great heritage of Muslims and the convening of Muslim Education Conference by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was an important milestone for the promotion of education in the Indian subcontinent. The IUB which was established on the model of Al-Azhar University, is a continuation of this great intellectual heritage.
Immediately after the formation of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah convened an education conference.
The IUB brings together stakeholders on a platform for consultation on important issues of national importance and provides an opportunity for discussion and debate. The recommendations of this four-day consultative meeting will be sent to the Federal Ministry of Education.
Vice-Chancellor of Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Prof. Dr Sajjad Ahmad Khan said that development goals should be set in all fields including education and for this purpose dialogue culture should be promoted. Focal Person Prof. Dr Irshad Hussain said the four-day consultative meeting was attended by Vice-Chancellors, Heads of Schools and Colleges from 12 universities and teachers of religious seminaries and presented very useful and practical suggestions for formulating National Education Policy.
These suggestions will be documented and sent to the Federal Ministry of Education. He also appreciated the role of the Inter-University Consortium for Development and Social Sciences on cooperation in the consultative meeting.
In his keynote address, Prof. Dr Faiz ul Hassan Naseem outlined the education policy for 2020 to 2025 and said that the existing education system needs to be restructured to prepare young people with creative abilities to meet the global challenges. Do Senior Journalist Amin Abbasi termed the practical participation and consultation of teachers of local schools and madrassas in the consultative meeting as a very important development. Dean Faculty of Education Prof. Dr Akhtar Ali appreciated and thanked the delegates for attending the consultative meeting. He said that the Faculty of Education regularly organizes national and international seminars and conferences on the education system, curriculum and teaching methods and the present consultative meeting has proved to be a fruitful endeavour in this regard.
