GUJRAT: Federal Minister for Planning, Reforms and Development Ahsan Iqbal says education can help transform the fate of nation as only those societies can survive in the modern world that opt for innovation and knowledge.

He was addressing a gathering of students, faculty, administration and civil society at a ceremony to distribute of Chinese scholarships and laptops to the students of sub-campus of the University of Gujrat (UoG) at Narowal on Saturday.

Mr Iqbal said the country’s economy could be strengthened the through development of education, adding that progress of knowledge was first step towards modernizing technical and industrial infrastructure. He said that government was giving priority to establish public universities or their sub-campuses in each district to facilitate the students.

The minister said the concept of power had changed in modern times as brain power was ruling the world. He said that a model university should serve the community through its research and academic activities.

Five students of the campus, namely Aqsa Sagheer, Iqra Naeem, Yusra Iftikhar, Iftikhar Ahmed and Muhammad Umer, were awarded Chinese scholarships by the government of China under the Cultural Exchange Programme. Moreover, 22 position-holder students of BS, MBA and MA programs were given laptops under the Prime Minister’s Laptop Scheme. UoG Vice Chancellor Ziaul Qayyum, UoG Sub-Campus Narowal Director Sahibzada Faisal Khurshid and UoG Director Media Sheikh Abdul Rashid also spoke.

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2015

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