AWAY from the media galore, a silent revolution is taking place in the realm of science and technology, high quality research and innovation under the guidance of Prime Minister Imran Khan and as per vision of prominent educationist, researcher and scientist Prof Dr Attaur Rehman that would surely prove to a harbinger of real change in Pakistan.
An all-encompassing strategy being implemented by the Prime Minister’s National Task Force on Science and Technology, National Task Force on IT and Telecom and Task Force on Knowledge Economy has started paying dividends and hopefully the country would be on the firm path of progress and development if the implementation continued at the desired pace.
It is widely acknowledged both at home and abroad that Dr Attaur Rehman laid solid foundations for promotion of science, technology and IT/telecom during his tenure as Minister for S&T and as Chairman Higher Education Commission but unfortunately the tempo could not be maintained due to lack of vision on the part of succeeding governments.
In this backdrop, credit goes to Prime Minister Imran Khan for making a right choice by assigning the task once again to him and allocating additional resources for the purpose.
It is a matter of pride that projects worth Rs 100 billion have been initiated during the last three years and one of them – Pakistan-Austria University of Applied Sciences and Engineering has already started function, which is first of its kind in the world offering programmes of 08 foreign universities to Pakistani students.
Another university is being set up at Sambrial near Sialkot under a multi-degree foreign partnership model.
A scholarship programme involving Rs. 13 billion has been initiated to send students to top hundred universities of the globe for Ph.D. Similarly, a number of projects for technical training including Matric-Tech have been started during the last three years to enable passing out students to have technical knowledge and skills.
Another very important initiative of the Government is establishment of a number of centres of excellence in new and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
The land behind PM House in Islamabad is being utilized for the establishment of a centre of excellence which will have its larger campus at nearby Kurri Road.
Apart from setting up a centre of excellence in bullet trains, Dr Atta has succeeded in securing collaborative partnership between 31 Pakistani universities with renowned Chinese universities/institutes.
Based on what he has done, people of Pakistan would surely remain grateful to Dr Atta and rightly so because personalities of his calibre and vision are born in centuries.
