President Alvi for market-oriented R&D, equipping youth with marketable skills

ISLAMABAD, Nov 08, (SABAH): President Dr. Arif Alvi has urged the need to conduct market-oriented Research and Development activities in the universities and equip the youth with marketable skills as per the market’s requirements. He added that Pakistan had enormous human resources in the form of its huge youth bulge, which could be turned into an asset by equipping them with in-demand skills and providing them with technical and vocational skills. This, he said, would help enhance national productivity and efficiency, besides providing gainful employment to its youth.

President Dr. Arif Alvi expressed these views while addressing the Convocation Ceremony of the National University of Technology (NUTECH), in Islamabad on Tuesday. Rector NUTECH, Lt Gen (retd) Moazzam Ijaz, members of the faculty, the graduating students, and their parents attended the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, President Dr. Arif Alvi said that with the advancements in technology, modes of learning were also changing and now a great volume of information and knowledge was readily available on online platforms. He added that in the past, scholars used to rely on limited technological tools and gained knowledge through observation and deduction, and knowledge was transferred through oral and printed means.

The President underscored the need to increase the number of graduates, particularly in the fields of IT, Cyber Security, Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence, by imparting education through distance, online and hybrid modes of education. He said that virtual and hybrid modes of education had resulted in reduced tuition fees and training durations in many USA-based universities, adding that Pakistan already possessed the necessary infrastructure to promote virtual and hybrid learning. He said that the virtual modes of learning as adopted by the Virtual University of Pakistan could be replicated in other varsities to increase the number of graduates while also maintaining quality.

President Dr. Arif Alvi regretted that Pakistan had to face the phenomenon of brain drain as its talented and qualified people could not be absorbed in Pakistan’s system and institutions and they had to leave abroad to earn livelihoods. He said that Pakistan had invested greatly in the training and education of university graduates, however, due to systemic inefficiencies, Pakistan had to suffer this loss.

The President highlighted the need for female graduates to stay productive and be a part of the economic cycle, adding that women’s talents should not be wasted and should be fully capitalized upon for the country’s socio-economic development. He regretted that 40-50% of female graduates in the field of medicine dropped out of the workforce due to social and family constraints, thus, leading to a drop in overall national productivity.

The President advised the students to continue learning throughout their lives and keep themselves abreast of the changes happening in the field of Science and Technology, particularly IT. He further urged the graduates to uphold morality and Islamic values in their lives and endeavour to serve their families and societies with love and compassion. He said that graduates should keep their hearts and minds open to new ideas, gain more knowledge, stay humble, and apply their knowledge for society’s welfare.

The President also highlighted the need for the continuation of policies, promotion of political stability and unity in the country, curbing the spread of fake news and misinformation through social media, and focusing on people’s welfare and intellectual development.

Rector NUTECH, Lt Gen (retd) Moazzam Ijaz, highlighted the role of NUTECH in the promotion of market-oriented education, particularly in the disciplines of Engineering and Computer Science. He informed that 68 members of its faculty possessed PhDs and that NUTECH Innovation Center was working on the development of portable dialysis and X-Ray machines, besides focusing on expanding its physical infrastructure.

Earlier, the President awarded gold medals to top-performing students in various disciplines of engineering, besides conferring degrees on the graduating students.