LAHORE, Aug 28: Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood has called upon the universities in public as well as private sector to canalize their energies towards research and development.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of first national mathematics olympiad at the Government College University on Saturday, the minister also urged the students to study market-oriented subjects to compete in the world. "We want to present Pakistan as a progressive state in the world," he added.

He said the universities should assume the role of developing and designing policies and lead the nation.

The minister said the Punjab government and the Higher Education Commission had given huge funds to the public-sector universities in the province and now it was up to these institutions to deliver. It had also invested heavily in the education sector under the Chief Minister's Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme.

In order to accommodate more and more students in government colleges, he said the department had directed the principals of all colleges to start second shifts. He said the students, who could not get admission to government colleges, were compelled to get admission to private colleges and pay heavy dues.

The minister said it was encouraging that parents were now concerned about education of their children. He said parents now kept contacting teachers to keep the record of their children.

The government, he said, would continue to monitor brilliant as well as poor students in government schools and colleges and help them get quality higher education. He also urged the universities to attract the best foreign faculty by offering them handsome salaries under the Tenure Track System.

Earlier, the GCU's School of Mathematical Sciences director-general, Prof Dr A.D.R Chaudhry, spoke about the aims and objectives of the first national mathematics olympiad held this week. He said the olympiad would help promote mathematics and expose young students to its application and general scope.

Prof Chaudhry said the SMS had also emerged as the institution in the country that was offering the strongest and the biggest PhD programme in mathematics.

GCU vice-chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Aftab also spoke on the occasion.

Later, the minister distributed certificates among all the 45 students of O and A-levels and FA/FSc, who participated in the olympiad.