ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain said on Wednesday that Sindh Madressatul Islam’s (SMIU) National Leadership Program is highly commendable, which will help its students to become successful leaders of future. In this respect, SMIU Vice Chancellor Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh has taken extraordinary efforts to provide them exposure of national and international level.
Addressing the SMIU students’ delegation and faculty members, led by Dr Shaikh, at President’s House here today, Hussain emphasized on engaging students in research activities so that they could play active role in the country’s development. The president advised the faculty members that they should not confine themselves to only curricular activities but also go further by helping students in their character building and personality development.
Hussain also advised the students to equip themselves with quality learning and pursue higher studies even if they had to go to western countries, but he also told them to maintain values and customs of their own country and not to get completely absorbed in western culture. The president said that it was a good development of SMIU that it laid foundation of its new campus in Education City of Karachi.
He was of the firm belief that future of Pakistan was only possible with democratic form of government. He was quite optimistic about CPEC that it would bring prosperity to the country and would be a game changer for Pakistan. He advised the students to get technical education too so as to avail job opportunities coming out from CPEC.
Answering the questions regarding challenges facing Pakistan today, Hussain said: “Corruption is biggest challenge to the country and there was need to reject it in all its forms.”
Earlier, SMIU VC in his speech paid his gratitude to the president for honoring SMIU students to visit President House for third year consecutively. He said the president had a close association with the Alma-Mater of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Recalling the past, Dr Shaikh said that when Mamnoon Hussain was Sindh’s governor, he had visited SMI and after becoming president, he gave same importance to this historic institution.
Shaikh further said that founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had received education at SMI for a longest period of his educational life and also elevated it to the collage level and bequeathed one third of his property to it. Today, Dr Shaikh maintained that it was following the footsteps of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah by imparting quality education and providing opportunities like National Leadership Program to its students to become the future leaders of Pakistan.
Later on, Dr Shaikh presented souvenirs to the president. Earlier, the delegation members paid a visit to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, where they were able to witness the proceedings of the court being conducted by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar. They also visited the museum and gallery of the Supreme Court and observed historic judicial documents.
The delegation also visited the office of the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan, where they were briefed about higher education of USA and admission procedure.