ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday said that educational and research institutes are recognized by their patronage of intellectual development where new ideas and concepts are promoted to strengthen the foundation of a nation’s progress.
While addressing the awards ceremony of National Research Programme under the auspices of Higher Education Commission (HEC) at the Presidency in Islamabad, the president said that the nations that focus on research activities never lag behind others in development.
The president said that the knowledge-based societies use research material not for the purpose of personal gains of a few people, but for the betterment of entire humanity.
Mamnoon Hussain expressed satisfaction that Pakistani researchers were following new ideas in knowledge and learning, setting aside old beliefs. He said that such efforts of researchers would help promote the culture of research in universities.
President Mamnoon also emphasized close collaboration between research institutes and industry in the country. He said that close linkages would help researchers know the contemporary needs of industry, also giving their evaluative studies a right direction to yield substantive results.
The president felicitated the researchers for approval of their proposals and said their efforts would make the Pakistani society a hub of knowledge and learning.
This would reconnect the new generation with the lost tradition of their ancestors in the realms of research-oriented studies, as the weakening of this legacy has resulted in rise of social problems, he added.
The president said that the Country had immense scope for research activities and lauded the contribution of HEC for supporting the research scholars. He termed educational research a noble cause and stressed to uphold its worth at every cost.
Present Mamnoon mentioned that the practice of using unfair means by students in early education was severely detrimental and needed to be avoided. He pointed out that the parents facilitating their children to indulge in such malpractices were doing no good service to them.
The president said tough times were over for Pakistan and the Country was heading towards an era of development and prosperity. He said that decline in Pakistani exports was due to weak research culture in the Country for which youth could play a significant role.
Mamnoon Hussain said that wrong policies in the past resulted in damaging the national institutions and slowing down of pace of development. He emphasized on shunning the wrong practices of the past and converging energies to achieve the national objectives.
The Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed announced that from next year, research awards would be given on an open competitive basis.
President Mamnoon Hussain gave away awards to the research scholars from different universities.
A total of 568 research awards have been given by the HEC to the universities across the Country while 3,200 research proposals were submitted.
The distribution of awards is 199 for federal area, 214 for Punjab, 80 for Sindh, 69 for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and three each for Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
