ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: National University of Modern Languages (Numl) plans to establish a high-tech centre for linguistic interpretation, the varsity officials said.

Numl, besides offering degree, diploma and certificate courses in 23 languages also endeavours into subjects like management sciences, education, information technology, language engineering, human resources development and sustainable policy formation.

The officials said quite contrary to the image created by its name, the varsity was not exclusively for languages and offered management and IT courses to meet the requirement of this modern era of technology.

Replying to a question regarding the rationale of having a university exclusively for languages in this era of IT, they said it was because knowledge about languages was required even for high-tech subjects like computer studies for which information about languages was indispensable.

They said the university bridged the gap between students’ aspirations and success.

Asked as to how far the varsity had been able to meet its objectives, the officials said Numl was helping people in understanding and interacting with others in different languages, to absorb different cultures and to act as a springboard for emerging disciplines since 1970.

The university, they said, laid special emphasis on English, Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, German and French languages to build friendly relations with neighbouring countries, and for acquiring the knowledge of technology available in their books and literature.

The head of English department, Dr Robina Kamran, said: “Languages help us communicate with others, especially when we go abroad for higher studies and without sound knowledge of the language spoken in that country, there is every likelihood that we may find ourselves mired in multifarious problems. She added that Numl was the medium of acquiring different languages.

Rector Brig (Dr) Aziz Ahmed Khan said there was no other university in Pakistan, which offered such a wide range of languages.

To a question about the high fees of the university, he said: “It is a misconception that our fees are very high.”

The university’s annual budget is Rs27 million, which was the same as compared to when it was an institute, he added.

Brig Khan said it was difficult to run the operations after being elevated to the status of a university on such a meagre amount.

“Our fees are affordable and cheaper, if we compare to British Council’s charges for an English language course, that is Rs12,000 and their classes are only held three days a week, whereas Numl is offering this course for Rs6,000, which covers the cost of books, cassettes and transportation and our classes are held for six days a week,” Dr Robina Kamran said while defending the varsity’s fee structure.

“We have been successful due to our approach and modern teaching techniques, which are different and better as compared to other universities. We believe in developing the concepts of pupils and try to diminish the trend of cramming. It is the psychology of Pakistani students to study from the examination point of view and not for the sake of knowledge and we are trying our best to eliminate these tendencies,” she added.—Zahra Syed