ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain urged the government on Thursday to increase the salary of teachers so that they could play their due role in national progress and focus their energies on enhancing the standard of education.
“For enhancing the standard of education and for national progress, it is imperative that teachers are paid adequately and their remuneration is commensurate to their needs,” the president said while chairing the fifth meeting of the senate of Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design (PIFD) here at the presidency. He is the chancellor of the institute.
According to a president’s spokesman, Mr Hussain directed the commerce ministry, under which the PIFD falls, to formulate recommendations for increasing the salary of teachers and other staff members of the institute.
The president stressed the need for focusing on the field of fashion and designing to enhance the country’s exports.
He hoped that improvement in the field would serve to increase job opportunities and create a pool of skilled manpower in the country which would bolster the national economy.
President Hussain was quoted as saying: “The education of fashion and design is a new concept in Pakistan which requires more attention so that national output is up to the international standard and there is improvement in local products.”
The Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design — commonly referred to as PIFD and formerly known as the Pakistan School of Fashion Designing — is a public sector degree-awarding institute specialising in design education. It offers a four-year course of study leading to a bachelor’s degree. The PIFD was registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984, in 2008 under the sponsorship of the commerce ministry. An NOC was issued to PIFD by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan for degree awarding status in 2007.
The meeting of the institute’s senate was attended by Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir, Senator Robina Khalid, member of National Assembly Shereen Arshad Khan and federal secretary in the ministry of commerce.
The meeting granted approval to the PIFD’s budget for 2016-17 and also approved its annual report. It discussed academic, administrative, financial and security matters related to PIFD and took decisions accordingly.
President Hussain said there was a need to maintain international standards in fashion and design for export purposes so that new avenues could be explored in this field. “But our students should uphold their cultural and religious values,” he added.
Talking about the menace of terrorism, he said: “Our youths have become despondent due to terrorism and extremism and in order to turn their despondency into hope there is a need to work with dedication.”
The president said he regularly interacts with the youths by visiting their educational institutions.
