ISLAMABAD: As many as 64 university teachers were awarded Best University Teacher Award 2016 in recognition of their outstanding performance during a ceremony held at the Higher Education Commission Secretariat hereon Wednesday. Each winner was awarded a certificate and a cash prize worth Rs. 100,000.
Engr. Baligh-ur-Rehman, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training was chief guest on the occasion, while Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC, Dr. Arshad Ali, Executive Director, HEC, Dr. Ghulam Raza Bhatti, Member Operation & Planning, HEC, Mr. Raza Chohan, Director General Academics, HEC and a large number of faculty members were also present.
Felicitating the teachers on their exceptional performance, Engr Rehman said human development is the key to overall progress of a country, adding that teachers play the most pivotal role in ensuring human development. He said the Government has taken the higher education funding to Rs. 107 billion in the ongoing fiscal year. He appreciated HEC for promotion of higher education and research culture in the country. “HEC has lived up to the Government’s expectations,” he remarked.
The minister urged the teachers to adopt new technologies and promote teamwork. “Teach your students how to collaborate and work as a team,” he stressed. He observed Pakistan has multiple inspirational stories to be presented as role model. He informed the audience that the Government has prepared curriculum for class 1-5 focusing on character building of students. He informed the gathering that teaching of translation of the Holy Quran has also been made mandatory for class 6-12 in Islamabad. The practice will be extended to provinces too, he added.
In his welcome address, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed underlined that teachers and Imams play key role in social development. He urged the teachers to train the country’s youth in line with its social norms and values. “We have to invest for the bright future of our youth and coming generations,” he emphasised. He stressed the need for promoting nationalism while setting aside non-issues.
Shedding light on the achievements of HEC, he said Pakistan had only 59 universities before the inception of HEC, adding that the number has now reached 188. He said HEC encourages research based on solution to prevailing problems of society. The number of research publications has now reached 1200 annually.
The Chairman revealed that HEC is taking tangible steps to ensure equitable access to higher education in the country. He maintained that HEC has set up sub-campuses of universities in far flung and less-developed areas in order to impart education at doorstep. He said HEC has established a university campus near the Line of Control in Azad Kashmir, where 84 students are acquiring education. He added that a sub-campus of Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University has been established in Noshki near Pak-Iran border and over 300 students are studying there, while FATA University has also been established. More campuses will be established in Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, interior Sindh, and FATA agencies, he informed. He congratulated the award winners and encouraged university faculty to excel in their respective programmes.
The Best University Teacher Award Scheme was launched in 2003 with an aim to recognise the relentless efforts of faculty members of universities. The concept of awards was instituted for promotion of education and research by universities faculty and to acknowledge their scholarly endeavours aimed at bringing socio-economic impacts in the society at large.
The criteria is transparent and efficient. Universities and degree awarding institutions are asked to nominate teachers eligible for the Best University Teacher Award every year. A total of 160 nominations were received from 80 public and private sector universities. All the nominations were scrutinised and evaluated on the basis of HEC approved criteria by an expert committee and 64 faculty members were selected.
Realising the importance and benefits of project entitled Awards to Best University Teachers, the Best University Teacher Awards have been made part of HEC’s recurring programmes making it a regular activity. Moreover, selected private universities have also been included in the programme from 2011. As a whole, 564 awards have been conferred under the programme during the last 13 years.