Education ties 'boost Pakistan project'

Educational cooperation and exchanges between Pakistan and China are playing an important role in promoting the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, a Pakistani scholar said.

"BRI is a framework for multinational economic development. It is providing a window of opportunity that will bring socioeconomic stability for countries around the globe including Pakistan," said Safdar Ali Shah, director general of CPEC cell at the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.

With CPEC entering an advanced stage, Shah said the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in higher education have been reaching a new level over the past few years, adding that further collaboration in higher education is crucial to the building of CPEC and the development of the country.

"Pakistan needs to produce young talent that meets the requirements of Chinese companies which want to invest in the country and are in desperate need of skilled people acquainted with the local conditions and languages ... so there is a need to ramp up educational cooperation for providing strong intellectual and talent support to Chinese companies," the scholar said.

According to Shah, 18 universities from China and Pakistan established the CPEC Consortium of Universities back in 2017 to promote academic exchanges for the high-quality development of CPEC. The number of member universities has increased to more than 110, indicating a substantial rise in academic and educational exchanges over the years.

The academic collaboration under the CPEC Consortium of Universities included the establishment of China study centers at various universities across Pakistan, joint research projects, language training and talent cultivation, cultural activities and joint conferences, workshops and exhibitions, he added.

"The number of Pakistani students learning Chinese language and the number of Chinese students learning Pakistan's national language Urdu have also increased considerably over the years, bringing the people of the two countries closer and closer," he noted.

Under the educational cooperation programs between the two neighbors, Shah said thousands of Pakistani students are studying in China, learning Chinese culture, language and majors, adding that most of these students are studying on Chinese scholarships.

Besides providing opportunities to Pakistani students, Chinese universities are going the extra mile to improve the education quality for the students to meet the needs of the two countries' major projects like CPEC and other vital fields, he said.

"Measures such as transforming the talent training concept to cultivate applied and compound talent, improving the teaching level by assembling a team of teachers with high professional standards, and designing tailored textbooks, are being taken for Pakistani students in Chinese universities to enhance the standard of education and training," he said.