Nations were built not by the govts, but by the people: Alvi

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday stressing the importance of quality education said effective use of human intellect could lead to building better knowledgeable economy.

Addressing at the launch of National Academy of Higher Education, the President said the countries which made tremendous growth understood elevation of masses through education ultimately achieved the goals of development and reduction of poverty.

The President said education required good teaching complimented by perfect communication skills to transfer knowledge to students. He mentioned that human factor in teaching was still important even after the introduction of artificial intelligence.

Teaching embodies all those skills by which knowledge has been given, borrowed and learnt over centuries, he added.

Emphasizing the capacity-building of teachers at primary and higher education levels, the President said system of their promotion should be based on seniority and competence.

He said the current education metrics that judge the performance of students needed to be altered to assess their knowledge capacity.

He said nations were built not by the governments, but by the people and stressed the role of all institutions in contributing towards social reformation, may it mosque, television or social media.

The President said as global economy had become a mantra since last two decades, there was a need to abreast students with better knowledge skills to meet the challenges of fast changing world.

The President said the government was committed to ensure quality higher education and expressed confidence that the National Academy of Higher Commission would contribute to promote development of high-quality human capital.

The National Academy of Higher Education would be a centre of excellence for capacity building and skill development. The overall aim was to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, research, academic governance and leadership in higher education institutions.

Minister for Education Shafqat Mehmood said the government was taking measures for improvement of education in the country and had allocated resources for various academic programmes.

Chairman Higher Education Commission Dr Tariq Banuri highlighted the importance of quality education in nation-building.