Federal Minister for Education Engineer Balighur Rehman informed the committee that Prime Minister Fee Reimbursement Scheme for less developed areas has increased the enrolment of students in the universities. He said that Rs 2 billion annually are being used for this project and it has given positive results, upon which, the committee members recommended that the budget of the scheme be increased to Rs 6 billion. Rector International Islamic University Dr Masoom Yasinzai briefed the committee about the performance, achievements, mission and futuristic vision of the university.
He informed that this is the only international university in Pakistan where 2,400 foreign students out of 30,000 students from different countries are getting education. International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) would work for legislation regarding alcohol under the supervision of the National Assembly Committee on Education. This was recommended by the committee.
It was recommended that the IIUI, through its Islamic Research Institute (IRI) and its other constituent units, would help for legislation and guidance on the issues such as alcohol and issues pertaining to justice. It was also discussed that already drafted work on the issue of alcohol will be shared with the IIUI. The chairman of the committee lauded the IIUI for its services and ongoing projects. He said that research projects must be result-oriented at the universities, adding that nepotism and favouritism be avoided in the educational institutions.
To a point regarding research and development, the education minister said that Higher Education Commission (HEC) has established ORIC departments in around 70 universities which work for engaging the industry with university, adding that products of a few universities have been adopted by the market. As per the agenda, Dr Masoom briefed the committee about strengths, achievements, legal framework, budget and futuristic outlook of the university. He told that the IIUI is one of the country's fastest expanding universities with more than 30,000 on campus students and around 50 PhD international faculty members.
Answering a question, the IIUI rector responded that the university has signed memorandum of understandings (MoUs) and established linkage with Al-Azhar University of Egypt, Umm Al Qura University of KSA, Islamic University of Madina, KSA, and many other international institutions. Upon the point of curriculum, the IIUI rector told that the university arranged a conference on the topic and it has always stressed on inclusion of teachings of Islam in curriculum. He further said that the university had also opted Washington accord and it is preparing its engineering curriculum in the light of international requirements.
Dr Masoom said that the university has already submitted its 2025 strategic plan of 10 years under which the top priority was a faculty of medicine regarding which the IIUI Pro Chancellor Abdullah Aba Al-Kjhail had assured of good news soon, he added. The committee members were also apprised that the university through a Paigham-e-Pakistan initiative mustered all sects of religion and a unanimous decree against suicide attacks and terrorism was announced, which would be announced soon by the President of Pakistan.
Academia and industry are not hooked up and the reason is trust deficit on both the sides, which must be dealt on urgent basis, said Dr Masoom. The challenges of the present time can be resolved through progress in higher education, he added. After briefing, the committee recommended that the universities along with other subjects should also focus on character building of students which is the need of the hour.
The committee further recommended that the International Islamic University should construct additional hostels for male students within the precincts of the university as many male students are forced to live in private hostels outside the university. The committee was also briefed by the vice chancellor of Quaid-e-Azam University over the illegal encroachment on the university land by the influential land mafia.
It was revealed that 540 acres of the university land have been encroached upon so far, which is a matter of serious concern. The committee appealed to the Chief Justice to take suo motu notice on the land encroachment issue. The committee expressed concern over the encroachment by the land mafia and recommended that in the next meeting, the chairman CDA, commissioner/deputy commissioner ICT Revenue Department, Islamabad, would be invited to discuss the said issue.
The meeting was attended by MNAs Dr Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti, Rida Khan, Phyllis Azeem, Chaudhary Hamid Hameed, Dr Shazia Sobia, Shahida Rehmani, Dr Imran Khattak, Shahida Akhtar Ali, Sardar Kamal Khan Bangulzai and Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, besides Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Balighur Rehman and officers of the ministry and its attached departments.