Chairman of the Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said Pakistan’s future depends on how effectively the country equips its youth with quality education, stressing that the teachers backbone is central to national progress. Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the Academic Staff Association (ASA) executive body at Jinnah Auditorium, Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU), he underscored the pivotal role of universities as hubs of education, research, innovation and social responsibility.
Gilani urged universities to align curricula with modern job market demands and to strengthen links with internationally reputed institutions. He said academic staff associations play a crucial role in protecting professional rights while promoting educational standards, institutional cohesion and academic freedom, and reiterated that investment in education is a long-term national priority rather than an expense.
Highlighting the importance of faculty development, he recalled that during his tenure as prime minister (2008–2012) the federal government provided 100 PhD scholarships to BZU under a faculty development programme to bolster higher education in underserved regions. He described today’s Bahauddin Zakariya University as southern Punjab’s largest institution, serving thousands of students and contributing significantly to teaching, research and regional development.
Addressing the regional context, Gilani praised BZU’s role in expanding quality education across southern Punjab and urged the Punjab government to establish a BZU campus in Shujaabad. He said a campus there would directly benefit students from Shujaabad, Jalalpur Pirwala, Alipur, Lodhran and surrounding areas, and expressed hope that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz would approve the proposal without delay.
He also recalled the university’s origins in 1975 when it was established by a parliamentary act during the government of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, alongside the Islamia University Bahawalpur and Gomal University Dera Ismail Khan, as part of a forward-looking effort to promote higher education in southern districts and ensure equitable access for sustainable national development.
Vice Chancellor Dr Zubair Iqbal outlined recent improvements in the university’s ranking and said a comprehensive five-year strategy has been prepared to continue institutional progress. ASA President Dr Benjamin highlighted faculty challenges and pledged the association’s commitment to contributing constructively to the university’s development, while thanking the chairman for his support and calling him a benefactor of southern Punjab and BZU.
