Ethics Dilemmas in Qualitative Research - Higher Education ...

Invest in Youth to Build Nation: Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman
Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman, Chairman HEC speaks to Amcolians Alumni Association at Army Medical College
‘Education in the 1960s was of better standard than
education in recent times,' said Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-
Rahman, Chairman Higher Education Commission in
his guest lecture to the Amcolians Alumni Association
at Army Medical College Rawalpindi recently.
He said the HEC was working for the revival of higher
education system after its collapse and neglect of
many decades. “Though the facilities available to
teachers and researchers four decades ago were
negligible whereas the standard and commitment was
stronger which dwindled due to neglect leaving quality
and infrastructure wanting”, he said.
He was speaking at the inaugural lecture of Amcolians
Alumni Association's lecture series, instituted to create
an environment conducive to high level research and
development in the field of medicine. He inaugurated
the Association's first 'Workshop on Research
Methodologies.'
Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman enlightened the audience with the
initiatives taken by HEC in the areas of Access, Quality
and Relevance to National Priorities. He said that the
country's universities now boasted of the best facilities
for teaching as well as research and now the onus
rested on them to show results.
Universities, he said, should act as agents of change in
society and knowledge creation. He said that the
knowledge divide has become bigger but the same
divide could become an equalizer if more was invested
in the youth of the country through investment in
science and technology. “Science works in miraculous
ways and there is much to be achieved through
commitment of purpose in the fields of biotechnology,
information technology, material sciences,
pharmaceuticals etc”, he stressed.
Since knowledge has become the main driving force of
world economies and hence the basis for socioeconomic
development, Pakistan too is opting for an
approach where importance to basic necessities of
health, water, sanitation are on the forefront with
enhanced commitment to higher education sector, he
added.
The Chairman emphasized the central role of higher
education in technology development in national
priorities that are capable of transforming ideas into
products. He outlined the massive scholarship
programme for training of PhDs within Pakistan as well
as abroad, local scholarship programme for
undergraduates worth Rs. 1 billion, post-doctoral
training abroad, linkages with universities abroad and
the use of technology to leapfrog. This includes the
Pakistan Education Research Network, Digital Library,
Pakistan Video Conferencing Project etc.
At the conclusion of the inauguration, Maj. Gen.
Mushtaq Baig, Principal Army Medical College and
Patron of the Alumni Association and Lt. Gen. Syed
Afzal Ahmad, Surgeon General (IS) were presented
certificates of the Association while Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman
was presented a commemorative medallion.
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