Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Dr Mukhtar Ahmad has said that education diplomacy can bring about long-term peace to the region.

“Rather than looking towards the western world, we should solve the problems of our region through mutual understanding and cooperation,” he said during his visit to the University of Karachi.

He said that Pakistan-China friendship is an ideal in the world and the same relationship could be established with other neighbours as well. If Pakistan can manage to have durable relations with its neighbours then it will progress well, he said in a press release received by WealthPK.

Dr Mukhtar Ahmad also visited the Confucius Institute University of Karachi (CIUK) to pay tribute to the Chinese teachers, who had lost their lives in an unfortunate incident on April 26, 2022.

He lauded the role of CIUK in promoting the Chinese language in the country and expressed the hope that they would continue teaching Chinese to young Pakistanis.

He said the services of Chinese teachers to promote the Chinese language and culture will always be remembered, and added that China has a key role in the economic development of Pakistan.

According to him, even though sinister attempts to damage Pakistan-China relations are being made, they would not bring down the relationship between the two countries that respect each other.

Dr Mukhtar said recently he met Chinese diplomats and heads of various manufacturing groups, who have shown interest that young Pakistani software engineers and IT professionals should become a part of the Chinese IT industry. He said if these experts have a good command of the Chinese language, then they would surely perform well.

He said that the CIUK can help those students who have professional degrees and want to excel in China, by offering special diplomas.

He said that collaboration between academia and industry is necessary and suggested that universities should help solve the problems being faced by the domestic industries.

Dr Mukhtar Ahmed mentioned that HEC Pakistan has asked the public sector universities to set their key performance indicators (KPIs). He added that from next year, all the grants would be allocated on a KPIs basis.

The HEC chairman said that the commission makes every effort to ensure the timely delivery of grants to all universities.

On the occasion, KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said that KU has established industrial advisory boards in all the departments of the university. And with the help of market experts curriculum of various departments is being updated. He said the University of Karachi is engaging the industries so that the students can learn more about the market needs.

Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said that the under-construction building of the Faculty of Law is being built under a public-private partnership programme.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk