Youth choices for higher education | Saidu Medical College protest

Youth 'should keep choices open for higher education'
Islamabad, June 18: Urging the youth to keep their choices open for higher education, Chancellor Preston University Dr Abdul Basit here Wednesday said there are ample job opportunities available for fresh graduates in almost every field.

In an interview, he rejected the impression that the current political and economic crises have narrowed the choices for youth in the job market. "There is always an opportunity in every setback," he said adding that success in the end depends on one's consistence, commitment and determination.

With the growth of any industry, Dr Basit said, there are openings for finance, human resource management and marketing. "In the coming years, growth is expected in pharmaceutical industry, telecom, consumer goods and the health sector," he predicted.

He said after a brief recession in the information technology (IT) industry, IT is coming back, as its market is again expanding at both the national and international level, and added that despite the geopolitical situation, Masters in Business Administration (MBA) still enjoy the largest market in public and private sectors.

Calling for more educational activities in the city, the Preston University chancellor said events like educational fairs help in dispelling certain myths about the requirements of job market. "Such activities provide the youth a platform from where they can get satisfactory answers to all their questions." In addition to providing useful information about the existing opportunities, he said, the educational fairs play a very important role in creating awareness about the importance of higher education. "Such exhibitions are usually attended by the whole family including the children and thus, a whole generation gets informed," he pointed out.

Commenting on the opportunities available for higher education in the country, he said Pakistan is the fifth largest country in the world with regard to population, whereas it only has 110 universities for such a huge population. "In the US alone, the number of universities is more than 65,000," he said adding that with such ratio in our country, only two per cent youth get the chance to study in a university.

Highlighting the positive developments in the field of research, Dr Basit said in the past few years, more investment by the government in higher education has levelled the ground for quality research. "This investment has also brought benefits for the teaching profession and now more and more people are opting for teaching and research than ever before," he said.

Comparing the educational facilities available in public and private sector institutions, he said the public sector institutions face no problem of funding and physical resource, while the private universities take the lead in enjoying more freedom to introduce newer ideas, collaborate with international institutions and upgrade their curriculum. "In private sector institutions, decision making is faster as compared to the public sector."

Dr Basit said while searching for a job, there is only one rule to follow and that is 'never give up.' He urged the job seekers never to get discouraged with the prevalent crisis in the country, as it is a temporary phase that calls for collective efforts from all quarters of life. "The country is going through a very tough phase but at the same time, there is an obvious resolve among the government and the general public to pull the country out of it," he added.

Talking about the opportunities being available for brilliant and deserving students in the private sector, he said all major private universities offer merit and need based scholarships. "In Preston University, we offer 100 merit and 200 need based scholarships every semester," he said adding that it is up to the students to explore those opportunities and utilise them appropriately. The News

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SMC students stage protest
Peshawar: The students of Saidu Medical College (SMC) staged a protest demonstration outside the Press Club to force the concerned authorities to accept their demands. The students led by Kamran Khan Mohmand, were holding placards and banners, demanding the government and administration of University of Peshawar to shift the students of SMC to save their academic career.

The student leader Kamran Mohmand said their families were forced to vacate their homes and shifted to the other districts, which he added disrupted the academic system. He said the concerned authorities should keep the miserable condition of the students and their families and accommodate them in Khyber Medical College. Kamran Mohmand said due to the closure of Saidu Medical College, the students were suffering from mental distress, because there were only two months left for the annual examinations. F.P report

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Frustration of youth portrayed
Islamabad: The beginning of Dastaan Theatre's play Jane Pehchane Ajnabi looked striking indeed, as 11 actors including four girls dressed in black filed on the stage in an attempt to give imagery to Albert Camus's notion that city dwellers remain strangers to the general tenor of civilized life.

In that sense, the young writer and director Zain Ahmad has attempted to make it an existentialist play accentuating dark doors illuminated only by feeble lights. Dim lights and focus through strong lights aimed on the faces of characters also brought an eerie-like atmosphere to the stage.

The opening scenes are impressive when one sees them facing each other and striking on the faces of partners, suggesting the outburst and lack of dignity they have faced in a cruel world.

The idea of the play was to project the frustrated life of the youth who wanted freedom from the drudgery of jobs, carrying errands for the house and contributing to the income of the family. Apparently, the different characters represented in the play, the boys and girls, were not raised well and lacked inclination or ability to help the household and thus disappoint their families, and themselves in the process.

All the players including Ali Rizvi, Aimen Tariq, Farhan Shah, Farhad Kashif, Mohsin Ali, Maria Rubab, Mehreen Rafi, Fawad Khan, Saqib Khan, Paras Masroor and the director looked raw.

All of them had grouse against their families including mothers, fathers and sisters who failed to understand their wishes to free themselves from the constraints of society. Indeed, the symbolism of birds and fowls was predominant because the boys described themselves as a bird seen by their parents and the girls complained of their wings being cut down and their station reduced as puppets.

At one point, when the boy is allowed to die in the play after violence at home, the mother, too, leans down on the body of her son, showing no remorse.

The story deals with middle class section of urban societies with a number of children packed in their own homes. In fact, the portrayal of youth reminded many in the audience of the innumerable campaigns of NGOs, wanting to reform the society in their particular image.

A critic looked at the play as one representing the catharsis of the youth when things go wrong with them and the lack of opportunities which bars their rise to employment and the bitter tongue lashing received at home with a message that the family plays a role in child's development and their exclusion can trigger further isolation. Dawn

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