July 17, 2015
News
Australian high commissioner briefed on HEC working
ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Thursday briefed newly appointed Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan Margaret Adamson about its efforts for development of higher education and research in the country.
The briefing was given during the high commissioner’s visit to the HEC secretariat. HEC Chairman Prof Dr Mukhtar Ahmad briefed her about the commission’s initiatives in the fields of higher education and research and how the evolution of HEC from the erstwhile University Grants Commission has brought about a paradigm shift.
He said that the HEC was striving to further increase the access rate to higher learning while strictly ensuring quality as well as promoting relevant research for the benefit of society. HEC was facilitating thousands of PhD scholars from abroad as well as in Pakistan, he said adding that Pakistan’s population comprises 65 percent youth which is a great blessing for the country.
Dr Mukhtar also apprised the visiting dignitary about the instrumental role of the Pakistan Education Research Network (PERN) in pushing forward and facilitating research and videoconference system. He gave an overview of HEC’s efforts for establishing the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC) and Business Incubation Centre (BIC) in every university so as to promote research on socio-economic challenges as well as encourage graduates to become entrepreneurs.
Both the HEC chairman and Australian high commissioner agreed to start a joint scholarship programme for 175 Pakistani scholars to pursue PhD studies in Australian universities. The formal agreement is likely to be signed in the second week of August. Further, it was also proposed that the two countries would deliberate on launching a programme on the pattern of the Pakistan-US joint research programme providing faculty members and researchers from both countries to work jointly in areas of mutual interest.
The high commissioner said that Pakistan is a marvellous country with plenty of resources and nice people. She said that Australia has a strong background in agriculture, water resources, livestock and food security and that the country would like to facilitate Pakistan for research and development in these fields. Dr Mukhtar also appreciated the services of former Australian high commissioner Peter Heyward.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk