PESHAWAR: Measures urged to solve problem of brain drain
PESHAWAR Jan 18: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah said here on Tuesday that public and private sector are jointly responsible to provide maximum opportunities to highly qualified Pakistanis to return home
and join hands in the struggle for national development.
He was addressing the foundation stone laying ceremony of the new building of Kabir Medical College, Sardar Begum Dental College and Hospital and main administration block, component institutes of Gandhara University.
Chancellor of Gandhara University Mrs Roeeda Kabir presented welcome address and referred to the achievements of the university since its inception in 1995 in academic field.
The function was attended among others by provincial ANP President Begum Nasim Wali Khan, Senior Vice-President of ANP Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, former State Minister Mohammad Younus Ellahi, ANP leader Farid Khan Toofan and Director Finance of the university Ghulam Noorani and known educationists.
The governor said there was a general feeling that skilled and professional could contribute more towards the development of economy as well as social uplift if the problem of brain drain is tackled by expanding the network of professional institutions.
He said in this manner great responsibility lies on the shoulders of public and private sector institutions to provide maximum opportunities to the qualified youth in the country for national development.
By taping expertise of qualified manpower, the governor said: "We could significantly contribute in producing maximum skilled manpower in the relevant fields to cope with the demand both within and outside the country."
The governor said despite the fact that government was spending a lot in the health sector but still the masses were not satisfied with the system. A good number of BHUs and RHCs in the province had been rendered useless because of non-availability of doctors, he added.
The ratio between the number of doctors and population was still presenting a bleak picture, he said, adding better health services were still out of the reach of the vast majority of the population.
The governor said quality of health facilities were comparatively better in major hospitals as against the past but these would have to go a long way to reach at least a required standard.
The governor said the government was trying its best to bring quantitative as well as qualitative improvement in educational and services fronts and spending a major chunk of its resources for this purpose. But all its efforts failed in bringing a visible change mainly because of rapid population growth, he added.
The governor praised the role of the private sector in promotion of education and health care system and said that private sector had courageously accepted the challenge and was contributing significantly on all fronts in both these social sectors.
However, he urged the private sector to be cautious with regard to the quality of service being offered to the people. The governor assured that help and assistance being provided by the government to ensure level playing field would definitely continue in future too.
He said it was encouraging to note that apart from the overseas Pakistanis a good number of students from friendly countries were also studying in our private educational institutions.
He said it was an established fact that without education all our efforts to find a respectable place in comity of nations would ultimately go in vain. Rapid advancement in all important fields of education particularly in science and technology related disciplines was a must for to achieve 100 per cent literacy ratio. Through standard education the abilities of coming generation could be tapped, he concluded.
Chancellor of Gandhara University Mrs Roeeda Kabir in her welcome address stated that the professional expertise offered by university had been duly acknowledged at various forums.
To substantiate her viewpoint, she said, the university had been recognized by the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and enrolled in the list of recognized institutions of the World Health Organisation, General Medical and Dental Council of UK and Evaluation Committee of Foreign Medical Graduates.
She said the university has the privilege of being pioneers in organizing various courses and events of national and international acclaim and are constantly engaged in exploring new ways and means to improve standard at all levels. -APP
