ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – As many as sixty universities of Pakistan have announced 1000 scholarships for the students of Islamic countries, vowing to share resources for the promotion of higher education.
The announcement surfaced at the 3rd Vice-Chancellors Forum of Muslim countries entitled “Universities in the Islamic World: Facing Global Challenges” that concluded in Islamabad on Tuesday.
The forum recommended a regular liaison among institutions of higher learning in the Islamic world and convening the meeting of this forum for mutually sharing the development and progress on a bi-annual basis. It stressed on providing facilities for scholarships for students to benefit from progress made in scientific and educational fields in various centres of excellence among the member countries.
The Vice Chancellors from all the Islamic countries were asked to be cognizant of the challenges of globalization, particularly in the areas of educational and scientific research, for devising strategies and mutual course of action for cooperation in addressing those challenges.
The Forum recommended to establish Virtual Centers of Excellence enabling scholars and researchers of member countries for easy access in sharing the pool of knowledge, and to promote exchange of students and faculty among participating institutions of higher learning. It commended the member states of the OIC and the members of the Forum for their consistent support and cooperation in convening the 3rd meeting of the Forum at Islamabad.
The participants also appreciated COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology, Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamic Educational and Cultural Organization and Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World for organizing previous two meetings of the Forum in June 2012 and September 2013.
They said that meetings of the Forum provided an excellent opportunity to the participating Universities to interact and develop professional linkages among each other. There was a consensus that the Forum would provide a platform to the University heads for fostering collegiality, strengthening cooperation and encouraging dialogue among the member Universities. This would facilitate discussion and analysis on major global challenges in education enabling them to consider taking appropriate measures for meeting such challenges through cooperation among the participating Universities.
