LAHORE, Pakistan: President Mamnoon Hussain on Tuesday stressed the need for more IT graduates in coming days and urged the educational institutions to pay attention towards the needs of preparing IT experts.
While speaking as Chief Guest at 8th Convocation of Virtual University Pakistan (VNP) in Lahore, the president said that Information Technology (IT) has changed the whole world and it would become more important when projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would materialize.
The president said that skill development in Information Technology is must to reap maximum dividends from the game changer project – CPEC.
Moreover, he said that expertise of new generation in IT sector would be helpful for the development of the Country. He pointed out that in the past, education and industry were nationalized which created negative impact on the human development sectors.
President Mamnoon said that realizing the need of IT and skill development education, universities like Virtual University have been effectively serving the students. He lauded the services rendered by the Virtual University in the Country where a large number of students cannot afford higher education.
However, he said that the Country has been facing new challenges in education sector and more resources were required to meet ever growing needs and challenges. He emphasized that Virtual University has been fulfilling the needs of education successfully in this respect.
The president appreciated that the institution has joined hands with UN for promoting education in the country and hoped that this university would also sign Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with other international universities so that students could be equipped with modern skills and knowledge.
Mamnoon Hussain criticized that in the past education sector was ignored due to which literacy goals remained unachieved and human resource development was affected. He said that education is the only tool which creates sense of responsibility and encourages youth to meet the challenges faced by the society.
Meanwhile, the president, who is also Chancellor of the University, gave away gold medals and shields to students who secured prominent positions in various fields.
Earlier, the Rector of Virtual varsity Naveed A. Malik highlighted the achievements of his institution and said that 6,245 students including 2,166 from Lahore campus were being awarded degrees in different disciplines.
