LAHORE, April 14: Governor Khalid Maqbool has said all old educational institutions in the city will be given land for the establishment of their second campuses at the proposed education city on Multan Road.
Talking to newsmen after the 70th convocation of the Kinnaird College on Wednesday, the governor said the land would be provided to old institutions, including the Government College University, the Lahore College for Women University, the University of Engineering and Technology and the King Edward Medical College. He said the land would be provided to the institutions under one consolidated programme of the Punjab government.
Earlier, speaking at the convocation, the governor said he would pursue the case to clarify the confusion about the award of degrees to those candidates who studied and passed from the college during the period between award of the administrative/financial autonomy in the late 90s and the grant of a full-fledged degree-awarding status in 2002. He said he would also pursue college's case regarding enhancement in government's grant-in-aid.
He said the humanities were convinced that nations progressed with the enhancement in human development. The complete refinement of human development was unthinkable without the education of women, he said.
The governor said colleges and universities created knowledge through research and application, while the industry progressed on the basis of innovation. He said Pakistan was doing economically very well as more and more innovative industries, including that of fashion designing, fine arts and performing arts, were coming up.
Saying that these massive industries are waiting for the qualified and skilled girls, he said the Kinnaird College should create a niche in these sectors. He also urged the students to follow high standards of morals and ethics.
The governor stressed that there was a need to develop quality teachers particularly in science disciplines to impart quality education. During the last four years, he said higher education in the public sector had improved in all respects.
The quality of education was enhancing in the public sector at affordable fees. He said there was always a room for the private sector to play its role to impart quality education.
Earlier, KC board of governors' chairman Dr Alexander John Malik said the college was looking towards the government for its denationalization. College principal Prof Dr Mira Phailbus said the college was planning to introduce women studies and human rights as a subject from the next academic session.
She said the third phase of the new postgraduate was about to complete, and the college hoped to start building Phase-IV in the next autumn with an estimated cost of Rs40 million. The governor later presented degrees to MA, BA, BSc and BCS 2003 graduates.