BAHAWALPUR: A regional office of the Higher Education Commission will soon be set up at the Islamia University, Bahawalpur (IUB), Mian Baligur Rehman, the federal minister for education and technical training, said on Saturday.
He was presiding over a ceremony, where he handed over promotion letters among university employees.
The minister said an HEC office in the region would provide students from Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions easy and direct access to officials concerned.
Rehman said that Rs3 billion had been allocated for the Prime Minister’s Youth Training Programme to provide the educated youth with appropriate training thus increasing their preparation for a career.
He said 50,000 graduates would be given a chance for a three-month internship at various government departments. They would also be given a Rs10,000 monthly stipend.
The minster said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had made education a priority. He said the HEC grant had been increased to from around Rs47 billion last year to Rs60 billion.
He said, “We have decided to provide free education to the children in Balochistan and the Federal Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), including those in south Punjab.”
Earlier, the minister inaugurated Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Khamis Abbasi Post-Graduate Medical College at the IUB.
He said he hoped the college would bring revolutionary changes in health research and treatment.
University Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Mukhtar thanked the minister.
He said the female staff at the Government Sadiq College for Women University would also be given equal chances for promotion.
He said 43 Islamia University, Bahawalpur, employees had been promoted and 806 regularised in service.
As many as 207 new faculty members had been hired in 2012-2013 and 175 employees in the administration section promoted.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2013.