He said that especially to make the higher education system relevant to the times, the government has taken effective steps to introduce apprenticeships and internships and enhance industry-academia collaboration.
“This program is being launched initially by establishing tie-ups of local educational and professional institutions with universities located in the divisional cities,” he said.
As a result, he said, students will be able to acquire work skills by getting practical education in addition to traditional academic knowledge and they will not have to remain unemployed after completing their education,” the Prime Minister said.
He said steps have been taken to provide seed funding or innovation grants through a competitive process for commercialization of innovative business ideas in colleges and universities.
The Prime Minister said, “This initiative aims to groom entrepreneurs from campuses so that these entrepreneurs can contribute to the country’s economy by implementing new and creative business ideas.”
Tariq Rehman said that as a result of acquiring skills during studies, students can be able to create employment for many others as an entrepreneur instead of waiting for a job.
Apart from these initiatives, he said, the government is planning to set up ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Institutes’ and ‘Science Parks’ in higher educational institutions.
The government also plans to encourage education and skill-related events such as science fairs, innovation fairs and product sourcing fairs in partnership with local and international institutions.
“Not only in higher education, but the government plans to make technical and practical education mandatory in the education curriculum right from the school level,” he said.
Quoting British author Tom Wynne, he said, “I think a famous comment by British author Tom Wynne, who is known as a ‘business strategist and analyst’ especially in the digital world, is quite relevant to the content of today’s workshop.”
“He (Win) said Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, has no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, has no real estate,” the premier said.