Media varsity to be set up in Islamabad | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Media varsity to be set up in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Muhammad Ali Durrani has said a media university proposed to be established in Islamabad would be the first-ever university of international standards in the Muslim world as well as in the South Asian region.

“The university would not only cater for the growing needs of trained media professionals, but it would also play a pivotal role in the development of communication sector in the whole region,” he said while talking to Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman Professor Dr Attaur Rehman here on Monday. Matters pertaining to faculty members, courses, education and other facilities as per modern trends also came under discussion during the meeting.

It was also decided that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the HEC would collaborate jointly in launching the media university.

Durrani said the government, under the visionary leadership of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, is committed to the freedom and development of the media and new initiatives are being taken to facilitate the media to make this sector more dynamic and vibrant.

“The university would also collaborate with the leading international media universities for short-listing of courses, faculty members and other relevant areas so that the students could be imparted quality education at par with the international standards,” he added.

He said all necessary steps would be taken to ensure the capacity building of the media professionals to ensure the provision of better human resource as well as infrastructure in the media sector. “As the media is most powerful medium of the modern age, the varsity would prove to be a milestone in producing well-trained journalists and would also address growing needs of the present and future times in the field of communication,” he added.

Durrani said the university would specifically address the growing needs of the electronic media and skilled and innovative professionals from Pakistan, Muslim states and countries from the entire region would be able to use their abilities.

Hailing the initiative, Prof Dr Attaur Rehman assured Senator Durrani of the provision of full assistance in equipping the university with most modern equipment, faculty members and facilities at par with the international standards.

“The university would be established in the federal capital, having its satellite campuses in all the four provincial headquarters. Initially, faculties of Mass Communication and Media Development, Acoustics and Broadcasting, Performing Arts and Media Technology, and Digital Media and Graphics would be commenced,” he added.

He said that the government was considering collaborating with the Communication University of China and the Colorado University of the US, and international experts would soon visit Pakistan to give their valuable input in this regard.
Source: The News
Date:2/27/2007