PESHAWAR, April 12: NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani has supported balance between religious and modern education, declaring both equally important for visionary and intellectual promotion of the younger generation.

He was speaking at a ceremony held at the Garrison Auditorium here on Saturday to award certificates and prizes on the occasion of passing out of the third batch of students of the Khyber Institute of Technical Education (KITE), said a handout.

Besides students of the institute, Commander 11 Corps Lt-Gen Mohammad Masood Aslam, KITE chairman Brig Zulfiqar Ali, Fata parliamentarians, tribal elders and senior civil and military officers attended the ceremony.

The third batch comprising 145 students from backward areas of the NWFP and Fata was trained in different technical trades in KITE, an institution established and run by the Pakistan Army in collaboration with NAVDEC.

During training, students are provided with boarding and lodging facilities and a monthly stipend. On completion of the courses, they are helped in getting suitable jobs.

Mr Ghani said that by creating a trained work force, an outstanding technical stream could be developed to cope with the country’s requirements in the field of science and technology.

He appreciated efforts of the Pakistan Army in providing quality technical education to the youth from Fata and the NWFP, saying the plan would go a long way in making the youth of backward areas useful citizens, enabling them not only to make their own future prosperous but also to contribute in progress and development of the country.

He stressed the need for establishing more technical institutions in the NWFP and Fata to enable the youth to learn various skills, thus overcoming the problem of unemployment.

Brig Ali said the third batch of students inducted on Dec 3, 2007, had been trained in different trades including computer, auto mechanism, air-conditioning and refrigeration, electrical appliances, basic survey and levelling and carpet weaving. He said the students had also been imparted basic religious education, acquainted with decent etiquettes of daily life and provided with opportunities to take part in other extracurricular activities.

Two students of the institute, Mohammad Kashif of the Mohmand Agency and Daud Ahmad of the Malakand region also spoke on the occasion.

The governor awarded cash prizes and certificates to students who stood first and second in their respective trades. They included Mohammad Arif, Abdul Rehman, Yasir Ali, Najibullah, Rafiullah, Tahir Ali, Irfan Aftab, Rashidullah, Irfanullah, Mohammad Siasat, Akhtar Nawaz, Hayat Khan, Habibur Rehman and Sher Ali Khan.