ISLAMABAD: Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain met with a delegation of the Oxford Pakistan Programme on Tuesday.
Chairman Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Mukhtar Ahmed. The Minister said the Government of Pakistan is putting great emphasis on promotion of quality education including higher education in the country. He said there is a great potential in Pakistani students. He said for exceptional Pakistani students to study at Oxford, there is need to establish a number of scholarships, especially women at Lady Margret Hall which is traditionally a women’s college.
The Minister said that there should be faculty and student exchange, scholarships for students, sharing of information and experiences about each other’s academic’s policies and initiatives, organization of seminars and conferences, short term trainings, capacity building of staff and reciprocal visits of officials.
Rana Tanveer was briefed that OPP has three core objectives: to address the underrepresentation of Pakistani and British Pakistani students at the University of Oxford; to promote academic exchange between Oxford University and Pakistan’s institutions of higher learning and to broaden academic conversations on Pakistan beyond the narrow remits of security and geopolitics.
The Minister said that Pakistan has around 64% youth with substantial potential to support all key sectors of economy by developing human capital. He said Government of Pakistan realizes that it is imperative to provide quality education and opportunities to youth for the socioeconomic development of Pakistan.