TAXILA: Governor of Punjab Mohammad Baligur Rehman has said that the government has approved a sum of Rs1.2 billion for the upgradation, renovation, and establishment of state-of-the-art laboratories at engineering universities.

The governor was addressing the 21st Convocation of the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) Taxila as chiefguest on Saturday.

He informed the participants that the government was committed to restructuring the educational reforms and was generously awarding funds for research and development.

Mr Rehman stated that the government wants to promote higher education in the country, with merit and transparency as priorities.

He was of the view that without education and research, we cannot compete with the world, so all stakeholders need to pay special attention to this, and the government will support them at all levels.G o y e r n o r Punjab appreciated the university because, in recent years, it has emerged as a shiningstarin the field of higher education, promoting the culture ofresearch in the country as well as teacher education.

While addressing the graduating students, Mr Rehman emphasised, `You (the graduating students), the youth, almost constitute 70 percent of Pakistan`s total population, and time has come that they take decisions that embed ethics, empathy, and sincerity, as without these, societies don`t change for the better.

He commended the varsity for distinguishing itself by its core values and a commitment to enhancing the quality of knowledge dissemination and knowledge creation.

On this occasion, 1,184 degrees were awarded, including 29 PhDs, 75 masters in sciences (MS), and 1,080 to undergraduate students, while 31 engineering graduates were awarded medals for their highest academic achievements.

UET`s Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Dr Qaiser uz Zaman Khan, spoke in his address about the academic, research, development, extension programme, various initiatives, and community services of the university.

He enlightened the participants that UET Taxila has been ranked as the top engineering and technology university by the Times Higher Education (THE) for the year 2024 across Pakistan.

Mr Khan further revealed that after assuming the office of VC, he has taken many steps to minimise the deficit budget and generate revenue, including the solarisation of the university, the launch of electric vehicles, and the establishment of the Software Technology Park.

Earlier, Governor Punjab inaugurated the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and laid the foundation stone for the `University Solarisation Scheme of 1.5 Megawatts` and the Software Technology Park.