Daily Times

KARACHI: Learning Chinese is not enough, we have to build cultural linkages with Chinese people to take maximum benefits from CPEC projects, Dr. Musadik Malik, advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, said on Monday.

He was delivering an address at the Welcome Dinner of 5th Deans and Directors Conference held at Iqra University. The conference wasorganised by National Business Education Accreditation Council in collaboration with Iqra University. Vice Chancellors, Deans and Directors of city’s public and private sector varsities were also present on the occasion.

“CPEC will bring investment in the country.It’s up to us if we want to become a partner or just a consumer in these lucrative economic projects,” he said, adding that the pace at which technological changes were occurring at the moment suggested that the existing methods and techniques would soon become redundant. “What is impossible today may be a reality very soon,” he said, adding, “We are fortunate to have China has our close friend, since China has kept itself in line with the rapidly changing world due to its farsighted vision.”

Dr. Maliksaid that today’s children could not even imagine a life without mobile phones.Discussing the education system of the country, he was of the opinion that examination system followed by universities had become outdated. “Our testing methods are not updated,” he said, urging those in the audience to revise examination system at universities in accordance with the contemporary trends and demands. “Our universities will have to change in order to meet the demands of the modern world.Our education system must inculcate creative skills among students; no education system is effective unless it kills thefear of failure from students.

“Our government is committed to reform our education system; we have heavily invested in the education sector and will continue to do so. Universities don’t just educate students but their job is to prepare them for future. Science has taken us so far ahead that now human organs are being regenerated; the world has become a global village. If we fail to keep ourselves updated with the latest developments in the world, we will end up as a colony of some other power,”he said.

HEC chairman DrMukhtar Ahmed delivered the presidential address in which he lauded the performance of Iqra University in higher education sector, especially mentioning the dynamic role of IU’s vice chancellor DrWasimQazi.

“There may be no teachers in classrooms in the next 10 years. Machines are fast replacing humans,” he said, adding that teachers still had a greater responsibility to play for country’s socio-economic progress. “We always look towards other institutions for help.We must put our own house in order before criticising others,” he said, adding that students neededa careful upbringing alongside a good education. “The teachers have to inculcate moral and ethical values in their students. The only solution to our problems is education. Business education has major role in economic development of the country,” he said, thanking the federal government for increasing the education budget and investment in the higher education sector.

Earlier, IU’s Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. WasimQazi welcomed the chief guest and other esteemed guests at Iqra University.

“Technology and higher education go hand in hand. Universities are aggressively adopting technology leveraging the educational opportunities and for the purpose of improving quality of education”

He said,”we are living in an era of intelligent machines. In coming days, approximately 300 million jobs will be taken over by machines. Education is a big challenge now. If we don’t change the way we teach, we will be in trouble. The way we teach, the things we teach, are the things from the past. Iqra University has started rethinking its approach towards education. We are moving beyond the wild goose chase of competition to promoting collaboration for enhancing qualityand standards of education. We are redesigning our learning environment aligning it with next generation learning technologies.”

Dr. WasimQazi also gave a briefing about the digital technology being used in smart classrooms of the varsity which was highly praised by the audience.

Published in Daily Times, February  6^th 2018.