Punjab Home Minister Shaukat Javed has said that the government will not compromise on the quality of education as it directly relates to the vitality and future progress of the nation. Private institutions should exert all their efforts to provide quality education to the upcoming future leaders of the country. He was addressing the 2nd Convocation of Lahore Leads University held at Aiwan-e-Iqbal on Thursday. On this occasion, Lahore Leads University Board of Governors Chairman Zahoor Ahmad and vice chancellor Dr Muhammad Rafiq Baloch were also present. Shaukat Javed said that “we have gigantic challenges before us and I believe that associates of educational institutions are cognisant of these facts and will emerge as healthy competitors amongst their contemporary institutions”. He said that as a nation, “our focal areas of interest should be the acquisition and development of science disciplines and modern technologies”. “Although, our country made tremendous progress in various areas, a lot is yet to be done,” he said, emphasising that the highbrows of all the fields should resort to prefer indigenous resources for the progress and development of the nation. The home minister said that the universities should make their scholarly and innovative contribution on priority basis as the current pace of advancement needs more acceleration in order to compete with developed nations. Shaukat Javed, while stressing upon the students said that there are many unexplored and under developed areas where “our new generation can come forward and contribute very positively to have their share in the national development”. He said that Pakistan is a beautiful country and with “our efforts it can be beautified more”. At the end, the minister awarded shields, medals and degrees to the high-scoring students. Published in Daily Times, July 20th 2018.