ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman on Wednesday said that Social Sciences and Humanities were playing an important role for the progress and development of society.
While addressing the inaugural ceremony of “3rd National Symposium on Thematic Research in Social Sciences” at Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad, he said that research is very essential for any society.
The minister said that no society can progress without the values and character building of its people therefore it is very imperative that we should focus on Social Sciences and Humanities.
Baligh Ur Rehman noted that research plays very important role to determine new facts and objectives. There is need to resort to latest trends and techniques of research, he added.
The present government has greatly focused on education and increased funding for education sector, he added.
Enrolment, in schools, he said has increased and number of out of school children decreased in the country.
The federal Minister emphasized the need of applied research and said that academia-industry link is very important for our economic growth and national prosperity. Our universities should have links with industry, he added.
He said that research is very valuable and research outputs are rapidly increasing in the country. Research outputs must increase so that our country continues moving on the path of progress, he added.
Earlier, addressing the ceremony, the Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed said that there is dire need of doing research on social issues.
The Chairman HEC also emphasized the need of doing research while taking empirical data for solving issues.