125th Year Publication SAMPLE
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Transcript of 125th Year Publication SAMPLE
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The 125th Founders Day 11th – 13th November 2011
The 125th Anniversary of Aitchison College Lahore was always something anBcipated. We are an old insBtuBon, and perseverance is in our nature. But there will always be the awe of the moment, which begins a truly tremendous occasion. The events are chronologically divided as such: Friday 11th November, 2011 ACOBA Matches • Hockey • Football
Musical Night Saturday 12th November, 2011 Aitchisonia Debates • PoliBcs • Sciences • Sports • Governance
Founders Day Prize DistribuBon Ceremony Official Invite Dinner Musical FuncBon Sunday 13th November, 2011 ACOBA Matches • Cricket • Riding/Tent Pegging and the ExhibiBons which were showcased across the span of these three days:
Assalam-‐o-‐alaikum. It is a maVer of great pleasure for me to address the ceremony of the 125th Founder’s Day of the world-‐renowned Aitchison College, today. I would like to congratulate the management, faculty, and the students of Aitchison College on this fesBve occasion. The day marks a long journey of the college starBng from the 3rd of November, 1886 when the then Governor of Punjab Lieutenant General Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison founded this great seat of learning. Being the linear descendant of the Ward’s School at Tambala and the Chief’s College, Aitchison College has lived up to its reputaBon and has a wonderful job. Over a period of 125 years, the College has undoubtedly produced leaders who set up high benchmarks of success and display outstanding performance. Thanks to their dedicaBon and their commitment they have not only made their mark in their chosen profession, but also play a leading role in contribuBng to the community development and fostering naBonal integraBon. LiVle wonder that today Aitchison College has come to be recognized as a model of excellence, integrity, and compassion. Ladies and gentlemen, the world we are living in today is faced with various challenges. These challenges cannot only reset our direcBon but also impact our future. It is a complex world defined by the forces of change and evoluBon. Only those individuals and naBons can compete in today’s high-‐tech environment that have done their homework well in advance and have made knowledge the pivot of their progress and development. In today’s globalized world, knowledge has been acknowledged as an engine of growth and development. The challenges of the 21st Century can be addressed adequately if our insBtuBons encourage a sense of criBcal inquiry and a thirst for knowledge among the students. Our teaching insBtuBons and universiBes must become the hub of research and creaBvity capable of providing fresh insights into the contemporary problems. Staggering developments in the fields of science and technology have stunned humankind. The countries have been le_ with liVle opBon but to invest in the fields of educaBon and human resource development to stay afloat in today’s world. Doing so is the only way to ensure and sustain socio-‐economic development. A_er the Chinese example, populaBon should not be considered to be a burden anymore.
Bismillah-‐hir-‐Rahman-‐nir-‐Rahim. Sardar LaBf Khan Khosa, Governor Punjab and President of the Board of Governors, Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Members of Parliament, Headmasters of Aitchison College, members of the Board of Governors, members of the Aitchison Alumni AssociaBon, Raja Malvindar Singh, outgoing batch of 2012, disBnguished guests, my dear students, proud parents, diplomats,
Pakistan’s demographic potenBal is huge with 63% of its populaBon being under 25 years of age. What needs to be done is to harness the energies of our youth and put them into producBve use through Bmely policy intervenBon and sustained poliBcal support. Establishment of linkages between our educaBonal insBtuBons and job markets is one way of making this happen. The promoBon of industry academia collaboraBon, I am sure would go a long way in preparing future leaders endowed with the necessary vision to respond to present day challenges. Seeking educaBon is not merely an abstract acBvity aimed at gedng employment. Rather educaBon seeks to build character of individuals and produce responsible ciBzenry that is aware of its rights and duBes. It is an ornament which beauBfies the naBon and equips it with necessary capabiliBes to cope with the challenges of Bme. It helps in building up cultural ethos and preserving the naBonal values and idenBty by transferring their knowledge to the next generaBons. I am happy to learn that Aitchison College has been playing this role commendably well. Ladies and gentlemen, the passage of the 18th ConsBtuBonal Amendment has made educaBon precisely a provincial subject. A_er consultaBon with the provincial governments and other relevant stake-‐holders, the federal government prepared a comprehensive NaBonal EducaBon Policy 2009. Under this policy, it was agreed that each province shall develop its own acBon plan which shall commit to appropriately raising allocaBons for educaBon, set prioriBes according to the provincial needs, and provide implementaBon strategies, processes with Bme frames and key indicators, ensuring fulfilment of consBtuBonal needs with respect to educaBon and meeBng the internaBonal commitments such as EducaBon For All (EFA). The 18th amendment includes an important inserBon of ArBcle 25-‐A making educaBon compulsory for children. The main thrust of the policy remains on achieving the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary educaBon by 2015. Gender equality and bridging urban-‐rural divide are the areas of special focus of the policy. Ladies and gentlemen, for quite some Bme now, our great naBon has been faced with great perils of extremism and terrorism. While the extremist forces seek to snatch from us our values, our tradiBons, and our idenBty, it must be our endeavour to foil their evil designs. As I keeping saying, it is not merely a physical fight, rather it is a baVle of ideas. In order to comprehensively eliminate extremism and terrorism, we need to defeat the idea which generates it in the first place. This is possible only when our intellectuals, educaBonal insBtuBons, religious scholars, academia, and students come forward and play their due role. At this point, I recall the quote of Shaheed Muhtarma Benazir BhuVo wherein she said, “An inferior idea can be killed by a superior idea only.” It is in this context that it is incumbent upon the educaBonal insBtuBons such as Aitchison College to launch intellectual struggles against terrorism and extremism by inculcaBng the values of respect and harmony among its students. You would agree with me that naBonalism binds diverse sub-‐naBonal idenBBes into a collecBve whole by creaBng in them a feeling of oneness and unity. The naBon inspired by naBonalism can surmount any set of challenges. Our educaBonal insBtuBons have not done jusBce, o_en sensiBzing our youth and students to the unifying spirit of Pakistan’s ideology.
The forces of terrorism and extremism emerge in case of the void created by a collecBve failure to take care of this important aspect. I am reminded of a quote of Quaid-‐e-‐Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in a message the great Quaid issued on March the 23rd, 1943 and he said, and I quote, “I parBcularly appeal to our intelligentsia and students to come forward and rise to the occasion. You have performed wonders in the past. You are sBll capable of repeaBng the history. You are lacking in the great qualiBes and virtues in comparison with other naBons. Only you have to be fully conscious of the fact and to act with courage, faith, and unity.” Ladies and gentlemen, now I want to say a few words to the students. Keep hope and opBmism as your ideals. You have to keep pace with the demands of Bme. And prepare yourself for future leadership roles. You should refuse to be cowed down by the impediments that lie in your way. Treat difficulBes as challenges and have the determinaBon to turn them into opportuniBes. Prepare yourself to meet the challenge of tomorrow. Make the best of your Bme here. The present democraBc government places greater emphasis on human resource development, innovaBon, and entrepreneurship. We have tasked the Higher EducaBon Commission (HSC) to collaborate with the universiBes and educaBonal insBtuBons to build a strong base for the producBon of talented youth. The government is on its part commiVed to help the educated youth of Pakistan play their full role in the country’s development. Our great leader, Quaid-‐e-‐Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had great hopes on the youth. He once said and I quote, “Pakistan is proud of a youth parBcularly the students who are naBon-‐builders of tomorrow. They must fully equip themselves by discipline, educaBon, and training for the arduous task lying ahead of them.” There are few issues which have been raised here, and that is my vision. That I have given this vision to the enBre country for IT programmes in the country so that you can compete in the rest of the world. Under my direcBon, the Ministry of IT will establish an IT Block at the cost of Rs. 20 million and will provide Rs. 10 million for learning aid and IT tools development in Aitchison College, here in Lahore. There are a few suggesBons given by the Governor of Punjab and I will request the governor to prepare a non-‐paper and discuss all those issues with me and then we will examine it and if they are feasible, we will implement that. I thank Aitchison College for giving me an opportunity to address this disBnguished audience on the occasion of its 125th Founder’s Day. Thank you very much. Pakistan Paindabad.