ISLAMABAD:Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth affairs Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja held a meeting with the Vice-Chancellors and top hierarchy of various universities.

The purpose of this meeting was to gather universities from all across Pakistan under one banner and devise effective policies for the betterment of youth, says an official statement issued here on Tuesday. The SAPM highlighted the need of scaling up the freelance industry and empowering university students toward entrepreneurship.

In this regard, representatives of different renowned educational institutions also shared their ideas and appreciated Prime Minister’s Youth Program for bringing together the academia sector of the country. To benefit youth through different programmes, the SAPM highlighted important measures like enhancing training standards, digitalization of system, minimizing the gender gap, the inclusion of marginalized communities, and transforming of agriculture sector into a modernized one.

Vice-chancellors from different educational institutions shared their valuable feedback and suggested that training programmes should commence from the grass-root level and then produce students who can pursue higher education in a concerned field. Initiatives like Student and Faculty exchange among universities, associate degree programmes, certifications from international organizations, and a modernized curriculum were also discussed during the meeting.

The SAPM assured to address the problems academia is facing in Pakistan and also assured full support to all the educational institutions from the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. Prime Minister’s Youth Program will begin several initiatives under the proposed National Youth Commission, which will enable the young population to polish their skills and step towards a prosperous future.