Governor Punjab Engineer Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman has stressed the urgent need of promotion of quality education besides strengthening of sustainable industrial-academia linkage to meet market oriented needs. Addressing a 3-day Vice Chancellors conference here on “Paradigm Shift in Higher Education-Hackathon Planning for Future” jointly organised by the University of Kohsar and Education University Lahore in collaboration with Punjab Higher Education Commission, he said Industrial academia collaboration is must to produce students of worth contributing towards solutions of industrial sectors through their quality research. He emphasised the need that all public sector universities must share their expertise in their areas of specialisation, work together and collaborate with each other so that faculty and students of other educational institutions could benefit in future. He said universities should also adopt new trends of changing technologies in education systems to lace students at par with international standards. All varsities must introduce 5-years academic calendar so that students must be knowing exact schedule of their admissions and exams to avoid loss of students, he added. He said 5% of total revenue of varsities should be allocated to support the needy students. “We will have to infuse the spirit of character building and the highest degree of sense of responsibility among students” Baligh remarked. He said “we have to adopt pragmatic approach towards quality education in all areas”. Governor Punjab said that he has identified 7 areas for consortium and universities should work on it and explore the hidden treasures of knowledge helping nation towards development. Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman emphasised the urgent need of continuous supporting the flood affectees on regular basis and help their rehabilitation and reconstruction. He called upon the philanthropists and offy people to come forward to mitigate the sufferings of affectees. He hoped that it will be result oriented conference and findings of research groups will pay dividends in future and assured full support for making the event a success. Speaking on the occasion Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission Dr Shahid Munir emphasized equipping youth with market-oriented employability skills. He said economies are rapidly changing due to technological advances that necessitate new competencies for an intangible knowledge based economy. He suggested universities monitor eleven megatrends over the next 50 years to shape a better world for future generations. He further emphasised that, as the world’s fifth most populous country, with more than 60% of its population under 30, a skilled and employable youth was the only way to meet those challenges. He said that universities needed to offer quality education relevant to market needs, focus on skill development among youth, promote technology-integrated education, the development and use of artificial intelligence and robotics in Pakistan, cultivate entrepreneurial minds, strengthen international collaborations, personalize education, teach data science, and encourage border-free and globalized education for students.