LARKANA: Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Pakistan Peoples Party Sindh chapter’s president, has urged universities to develop close liaison with corporate sector so that their talented graduates can learn to create a niche for themselves in jobs market.

The Sindh government had introduced the school adoption policy very reluctantly as it found it a better step towards bringing improvement in the province’s education system, said Mr Khuhro at an annual day event at Government Girls High School in Dhamraho village, 12 kilometres from here, on Monday.

The school had been adopted by Dr Faizullah Abbasi, former vice chancellor of Daud University of Enginee­ring, Science and Technology. Khuhro took the credit for the school’s adopti0on, saying the former VC had taken the step on his urging.

He said the universities’ liaison with corporate sector would open many widows of opportunities for the fresh graduates and also help the corporate sector to choose efficient and talented minds and absorb them in different fields.

He said that entrepreneurs should be invited regularly to convocations to maximize opportunities for the youth.

He showered praise on Nisar Siddqui, who had founded Sukkur IBA in a single room and it had now grown into globally recognised and reputable university.

He said that a well-known cardiologist Dr Javed Tunio who hailed from his constituency Mirokhan was serving in the United States and “we are trying to invite him and other experts working in different countries to come back and serve their homeland”.

He claimed that when he held portfolio of education he had introduced biometric system among other reforms, which had left no room for what he called ‘ghost’ teachers.

Presently, he said, 150,000 primary teachers were serving in Sindh and were drawing handsome salaries. Students had cleared board exams with higher marks but they could not prove their talent in entry tests, he said.

Of 58,000 schools in Sindh, 42,000 were primary schools and at every two kilometres distance a school had been constructed with the assistance of World Bank, he said.

MNA Khursheed Junejo, former ambassador to UAE, underlined the need for adopting schools and called for arming the schools with modern curriculum of science and technology and preparing students to compete in the world.

He urged elected representatives and retired bureaucrats to adopt schools, which would greatly help change the education system. “No stadium is built in any village in the province but a piece of three-acre land is set aside in Dhamraha village where a stadium is being constructed at a fast pace. Hopefully, by the end of 2025, it’ll be completed,” he said.

Dr Aijaz Turk, a guest from the US, urged promotion of female education and establishment of IT institutions. The day was not far when this modern and model school would develop into an institute of technology and then a university, he said.

Different group of girls’ students presented tableaus at the program portraying praiseworthy contributions and services of national heroes, and participated in a debate competition with great confidence.

On this occasion, the school’s magazine Sambara was also launched, which contained articles written by students with the help of Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT covering various aspects of Indus Civilisation.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2025