ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday directed the management of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) to further enhance its online and physical educational infrastructure to increase the number of students.

He also advised the IIUI to double educational shifts in the university and come up with a proposal in connection with this within three months.

Presiding over a meeting on IIUI affairs, the president, who is also chancellor of the university, said the university needed to equip its students with soft skills, such as critical thinking, effective communication and teamwork, besides giving them access to technical skills.

President Alvi appreciated the performance and role of the university towards promoting quality education in the country and assured the management of his support.

Says students must be equipped with soft skills

He urged the university to include experts from the market in its statutory bodies (board of trustees and board of governors) and develop collaborations with the industry to equip its students with marketable skills. President Alvi emphasised the need to launch a two-year associate degree programmes to fulfill the market’s growing demand for skilled graduates.

Online learning resources must be provided to students with the help of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), he said, adding that online content needed to be enhanced as distance learning was cost-effective and easily accessible and duly recognised worldwide.

He hoped that the university would progress so that its Strategic Plan (2022-26) could materialise. It was underlined in the meeting that the plan would contribute towards the socio-economic and technological environment of the country as well as bring good governance to the institution.

President Alvi said the idea of online distance learning (ODL) should be enhanced by creating desirable infrastructure to take advantage of technology-enabled education so that a meaningful contribution towards national economy could be made.

He was also briefed about the initiatives taken by the university to strategically “redo, restructure and revamp” almost all academic programmes in accordance with the needs of the market.

He advised university officials to keep an active liaison with corporate advisory groups to produce quality human resource to meet the market’s demand, adding that the HEC and universities should come up with a proposal to develop and strengthen linkages between the industry and academia in this regard.

The HEC has been urged to communicate with universities in connection with launching associate degree programmes. The meeting was briefed about new initiatives including establishment of Directorate of Graduate Studies, Directorate of University Advancement and Promotion, Directorate of Research and Enterprises and the Office of Linkages.

IIUI Rector Prof Dr Masoom Yasinzai, Vice-Presidents Prof Dr N. B. Jumani, Prof Dr Ahmed Shuja Syed, Director Dr Ali Metab Alahmari, joint secretary (Ministry of Federal Education), additional secretary (admin), public director general (HEC) and other officers concerned attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2022