Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain said that Pakistan will only move forward if it reforms its education system. He was speaking at the closing session of the “International Summit on Higher Education and Workforce Development in 21st Century” organized by the USAID in collaboration with the Higher Commission of Pakistan. The session was also attended by US Senator of Utah State Keith Grover.

Rana Tanveer said that USAID’s Higher Education System Strengthening Activity (HESSA) between the governments of USA and Pakistan is a USD 19 million project that will support 16 universities in the country in areas of institutional and technical capacities to deliver market-relevant education and research. He said it is a reality that Pakistan’s education system is outdated and does not serve the needs of modern industry.

“We need to equip our students with the right knowledge and skills to make them ready for international business, finance, science, technology and social engagement,” he added. He said, “we need to be bold, innovative, and committed to achieve the three-fold objective of improving access, quality, and relevance of our higher education while also including the marginalized communities in the process.”

He mentioned the challenges faced by the education system of the country, including low and inequitable access, traditional teaching and research techniques, weak industry and academia linkages, and weak management and governance. He urged policymakers and experts to come up with radical solutions to the most pressing and fundamental problems of Pakistan’s education system. “They include revamping our curricula, investing in capacity-building of our teaching and research faculty, moving away from subject-focused, rote-learning to an interdisciplinary approach to research and education,” he said.

He said, “if we manage to bring about reforms in the most fundamental areas of the education system, we will be able to produce students who will compete with the brightest students from anywhere around the world.” “In this regard,” he added, “experiences and lessons learned from HESSA will be instrumental in scaling up the best practices throughout the sector.” Rana Tanveer thanked the HESSA project team for bringing together a highly accomplished group of thought leaders, policy makers, academicians, and students to ponder over the issues of graduates’ employability and workforce development in Pakistan. He also thanked the US Government and USAID for their continuous support for Pakistan’s higher education system in the form of both infrastructure development and institutional capacity building.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk