SWABI, May 13: The United Nations Joint Logistic Centre (UNJLC) has appealed to Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology to provide assistance to the Kabul University which has badly suffered due to over two and a half decades of war on Afghanistan’s soil.

In this connection the UNJLC representative, Farzana Rashid, has visited the GIK Institute and saw the art of excellence imparted to the young engineers in the modern laboratories of the Institute two-days back.

The Rector of the GIK Institute, Prof Dr Muhammad Naseer Khan SI, briefed her about the various curriculum and other activities of the institute and its achievements in the field of engineering science and technology. The briefing was attended by all deans of the institute where they discussed various aspects of collaboration in the filed of sciences and technology with the Kabul University.

Ms Rashid said that the Kabul University has not been able to revise the bulk of its curriculum for more than 25 years, which created the knowledge vacuum. An academic institution, she said like Kabul University was one of the finest institutions but it has stagnated since war destroyed much of the country but now the UNJLC want to rebuild the engineering faculty with the help of various universities and Pakistani universities should also come forward.

She said that she has written to many universities in Europe to help the faculty and the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, is very keen to help the Kabul University. They have done similar projects in Eriteria and Mozambique, she added.

She said that Pakistani institutions should not remain behind in helping the Kabul University as it will help Islamabad to strengthen ties with Afghanistan. I firmly believed that providing rehabilitation and assistance to the university will provide an opportunity for interaction in the field of science and technology. If GIK Institute assists Kabul University, it will improve our social and political relations with Afghanistan, she claimed.

She said that the purpose of her visit to the GIK Institute was to assess the kind of assistance it can provide to Kabul University like equipment, books, building renovation, staff training, curriculum revision, etc.

“I have been asking universities in Europe to come down for a visit to Kabul and do a study of the situation. There can be a short-term and long-term plan for a project. And the more people are involved in it there, the better”, she added.

The universities she said in Europe would be working with donor agencies from Europe and also produce some of their own funds. As for a university in Pakistan, she said they would need to work with the government in Pakistan and their own funding.