ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said youth could play a pivotal role in transforming the destiny of the country through optimum utilization of intellect, morality and education.
He said the country required strong leadership and appropriate use of intellect and expressed the optimism that youth was fully capable of playing an active role in the overall progress and development.
Addressing the convocation of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), the president said education and health had a vital role in the robust development of China and added Pakistan ought to follow the Chinese model to materialize the goals of rapid development.
Calling the passed-out AIOU graduates as elite of the country, he said they had the distinction to secure a graduate degree in a country where 44% or more than 26 million children were still out of school. He pointed out that all the regional countries had 98% ratio of school-going children.
“In order to accommodate all out-of-school children, the government will
have to build 50,000 additional schools which is not an easy task, keeping in view the resource availability,” he added.
He pointed out that around 300,000 mosques in the country could be utilized to educate the out-of-school children.
President Alvi regretted there had been no sense of sympathy with humanity though the developed world posed itself as champion of democracy.
He said the world was now just going after the vested interests, as zero sympathy was being shown by the West amid the atrocities with innocent people of Gaza.
He said Pakistan intended to get the Kashmir issue resolved at United Nations platform but despite the lapse of over 70 years, the issue still remained unresolved.
He called for an end to the exploitation of wealth in the world to ensure a person his due right, eventually leading to peace and unity.
He advised passed-out graduates to continue the struggle for the pursuit of knowledge in practical life.
He also asked the women graduates to opt for the practical life even after
getting married.
He said in today’s era of technology, women could simultaneously manage their jobs and family life.
The president said Pakistan was declared as world’s 5th best-performing country during COVID-19 due to timely and prudent strategies of the government.
Recalling the leadership’s decision to establish the AIOU in 1970s, the president said the university had been playing a key and leading role in imparting education to the people, especially in remote areas.
Earlier, the president conferred degrees and medals to the fresh students.
Vice Chancellor, AIOU, Dr Nasir Mehmood said until now, some 5 million students had been graduated from the university.
He said the university was providing free education to the transgenders, jail inmates, and children of the martyrs.