Quality education imperative for sustained development: President

SWABI, May 25 (APP): President Mamnoon Hussain Thursday said
that quality education especially science and technology played
significant role in rapid progress and sustained economic development
of a nation and asked the students to get ready for the opportunities
in the context of multi-faceted China Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) project.
Addressing students, parents and faculty members on the 21st
Foundation Day at Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences
and Technology (GIKI), Topi, he said CPEC was a lifeline project for Pakistan that offered a lot of job opportunities for the youth
and students must harmonize and prepare themselves by taking
advantage of it.
He said Pakistan’s future was very bright
and great responsibily rests on the shoulders of students and youth to
take the country forward on the road to progress and economic prosperity.
He said CPEC would make Pakistan a very important country in the region besides bolstering trade and industrialization by
connecting peoples and states of the region.
He said CPEC was a gift of PML-N government for the people of
Pakistan who have rejected the propaganda of opponents
regarding western route.
Due to wrong policies of past regimes, national institutions
like PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills were overstaffed due to massive recruitments, thus adversely affecting their overall growth and
performance, he added.
By learning lessons from the past mistakes, the President
said, “We should all work together tirelessly in our
respective selected professions to take the country to new heights
of glory and economic prosperity.”
Due to prudent policies of the PML-N government, the
economic growth rate had significantly improved and the rupee -dollar
parity remained stable after a long time and confidence of foreign
investors was eventually restored.
The massive eonomic turnaround of PML-N Government was appreciated
by the world top monetary and economic institutions, he added.
Being a Muslim, the President said: “Our learning
traditions have remained very outstanding in the world and we need
to focus on science and technology to retain our past glory.”
“The real development is character-building of students, rather than making progress in materialistic goals,” the President remarked.
He said corruption was a social evil that hampered progress and development of a country, and joint efforts were needed for
its complete eradication. “We all should hate corruption and corrupt elements.”
For a brighter and developed Pakistan, he said “We need to
focus on science and technology, promotion of vocational education
and role of GIKI was very important towards achievement of
this objective”.
The President said no country could make progress without
education and science and technology, adding the role of GIKI for
spreading quality education in the country was highly commendable and praiseworthy.
He urged students to take full advantage of the facilities being offered to them at the premier institute by concentrating on
their studies and research works.
He said nation had high expectations from the students who had
all the abilities and skills to take the country forward on the
path of economic prosperity.
Later, the President awarded gold medals among position
holders besides distributing degrees and certificates among BS, MS,
M Phil and PhD scholars.
Earlier Rector of the GIK Institute apprised the
President about different projects and achievements of the university.