Country Director, British Council Pakistan Rose Mary Hilhorst said on Thursday that 160 universities of Pakistan are linked with British Council and all VCs are trained under Leadership Program by Higher Education Commission. She was addressing the 19th Convocation of the University of Central Punjab (UCP). Mian Amer Mahmood, Chairman Board of Governors UCP was Chief Guest while president Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Abdul Basit was guest of honour at the occasion.
A total number of 1373 young men and women received their degrees. Daneyal Muhammad Mirza was awarded Roll of Honor and 2 students received Merit Certificates. 54 Position holders were awarded with gold, silver and bronze medals and 108 Graduates received MS/MPhil Degrees.
Rose Mary Hilhorst said British Council has been working in Pakistan since 1948 through programs focused on Arts, Education, English, Society, Exams, and have recently re-launched our libraries in Lahore and Karachi. She advised students to work hard and do not be afraid of failure as they make you learn and strive even harder.
Abdul Basit, President LCCI emphasised on meaningful and result-oriented knowledge. He said the culture of research must be promoted as we need PhDs. Academia and Industry must work in close collaboration to produce the talent required by job market. Entrepreneurship must be encouraged. He said LCCI has opened the doors for graduates to seek assistance to establish businesses.
Pro-Rector, University of Central Punjab Doctor Zafarullah in his welcome address lauded the contribution made by Mian Amer Mahmood in the education sector in Pakistan saying that Mian Amer, has indeed proved to be a visionary and an exceptionally talented entrepreneur who has put in magnificent services for the advancement of education in Pakistan. He commended the role of British Council in supporting and promoting education sector in Pakistan. He particularly mentioned one of their initiatives, called SPHEIR program designed to improve the performance, governance and influence of Higher Education Systems and institutions. He said, under this scheme, grant funding of upto £5 million is available for selected projects. He also appreciated British Council's initiative for the social sector development, and particularly for education in Pakistan under DFID.
Emphasising on importance of professional education in today's world, he said UCP is chipping in its share to prepare young men and women of Pakistan to become effective members of society as skilful engineers, entrepreneurs, IT experts and social scientist.
He further said to improve the skills of graduates in job market, UCP also extends its gratitude to the Chinese Consul General for donating a state of the art Chinese language learning lab along with services of two Chinese language teachers. Currently, around 400 students are enrolled in HSK standard-I, classes. After qualifying Standard-I, they will be eligible for Standard-II.
He said SAP training program is being offered to all MBA graduates to equip them with latest decision making skills through ERP systems. Similarly, innovative methods are being used for teaching English to students to improve their proficiency in English language and presentation skills.
Dr Zafarullah said research is an important part of teaching and learning at UCP. UCP regularly holds International Conference on current issues in Business Management. 4th International Conference on Contemporary Issues in Business Management (ICIBM) is scheduled on 21st and 22nd of March, 2017 in collaboration with Kedge Business School, France, the largest and the elite Business School in France. About four professors from Kedge Business School will be participating in the conference along with researchers, scholars and representatives of corporate sectors from Pakistan.