TAXILA: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday emphasising the promotion of analytical thinking, said that the highly competitive world necessitated Pakistan to enhance access to education and enrollment in schools.
The president, addressing the first convocation of HITEC Institute of Medical Sciences, said Pakistan faced a crisis of 27 million out school children. He said that comparatively, the ratio of children’s school enrollment in India and Bangladesh stood at 98-100 per cent.
He told the gathering that Pakistan could excel within eight years through a dedicated focus on education and health sectors, citing the case study of China.
The president, who earlier distributed medals and degrees among medicine and dentistry graduates, said the country could not afford the women giving up their careers after getting a higher education and called it a “tremendous wastage”.
However, he said it was incumbent upon the state to provide women with a safe working environment as the institutions like Federal Mohtasib were already functioning for the purpose.
He said that in Pakistan, only nine per cent of youngsters enroll in higher education, which must be increased by introducing modern education tools like online education.
Citing a nine per cent prevalence of hepatitis and almost 40 per cent stunting, the president said the country direly needed medical professionals to cope with the challenge.
He urged the new graduates to focus more on preventive care as Pakistan could not afford the curative treatment. He recalled that Pakistan has already achieved remarkable success during the COVID pandemic by promoting preventive methods.
Calling it a beautiful culture of Pakistan, President Alvi advised the youngsters to always remain thankful to their teachers and parents for their efforts to brighten their future.
He said obtaining the degree was just opening the door to knowledge as new trends and innovations were being introduced in the medical field, particularly after artificial intelligence.
He predicted that within ten years, AI would enable the display of human thought within no time as tremendous knowledge already existed in the cloud technology.
He also advised the new graduates to never let greed overpower their humanity and to always be compassionate to their patients per Islamic and cultural values.
Earlier, Principal of HITEC Institute of Medical Sciences Professor Major General (retd) Hamid Shafiq congratulated the students and their parents on the graduation.
He said that starting in 2016, the Institute was counted among the A-Grade medical college in the country.
He said the Institute had also obtained ISO certification, providing high standard education to the students and a house job facility after graduation.
Principal HITEC Dental College Dr Irfan Shah said that with the convocation, the seven years long efforts have come to fruition.
He said the college was now a well-established institute with certain distinctions, including the top ranking by Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.
He said that besides studies, the college was also actively engaged in social welfare works by providing dentistry services to the people living in the suburbs.-App
