Memoona Shahid
The
idea behind the modern Knowledge city is “‘to encourage the nurturing
of knowledge’. The concept is to develop a city along with knowledge
development. A knowledge city therefore, becomes a geographical area
with an expanding knowledge society, and with knowledge as a strong
pillar of its economy. Keeping in view the potential benefits of
Knowledge city, Imran Khan, has taken an initiative to develop “NAMAL
KNOWLEDGE CITY” in the remote area which is the last arm of Punjab and a
Village near Mianwali. NAMAL College is an associate college of the
University of Bradford. The college is on Talagang Mianwali Road very
near to Namal Lake in Mianwali, Punjab. Land stretches from miles and
miles along the lake in a beautiful environment alongside of Salt Range
with one of the oldest rock structure of Pakistan, very near to
Islamabad on one side and to the Indus Highway on other side and also to
the tribal areas of Pakistan specifically to Waziristan. Initially, 40
kanal land to set up this college was provided by Ghulam Muhammad
'Seelu', a local resident.
Namal
college was set up with the sole purpose is to provide literacy in the
area where poverty, illiteracy and cultural taboos are considered to be
religious dogmas while hampering the education for girls. Having access
to quality education equipped with modern technology remained a dream
for most of the students living in the remote area of Mianwali.
The
vision behind Namal College and Knowledge City is to trigger innovation
for the benefit of the society, by establishing high quality education
facilities of international standards with the help of local and
international partners. The founding members of highly reputed
institutions such as Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) in Pakistan have come together to
take on this ambitious challenge of setting up the largest knowledge
city of Pakistan.
Imran
Khan’s commitment to education goes a long way back to early 90’s. He
started from a small movement that got proper shape in 2005, in one of
the deprived areas of Pakistan. Equipped with latest technology and
education system, within a year, NAMAL college has gained outstanding
reputation. Regardless of gender and financial standing, NAMAL is
providing all students with cutting edge modern education. The
differentiation of NAMAL lies in its mission to provide a well acclaimed
foreign degree in Home country at a fraction of the original cost of
the degree. Affiliated with one of the leading UK universities,
University of Bradford UK, NAMAL college is following all of UK quality
assurance frameworks, so that the degree delivered at NAMAL College
should be the exactly same as the degree awarded by University of
Bradford.
The
mission of NAMAL Knowledge City is to develop a city that nurtures
knowledge, possesses an economy that is knowledge based, provides an
environment that fosters knowledge creation. It is just the start of
revolutionary education in remote areas but the ambition of Imran Khan
is sky high. It is Imran Khan’s vision to transit the remote wilderness
of NAMAL into knowledge city. Knowledge City will include not just a
single college but medical, engineering and textile schools.
The
creation of a knowledge economy in Mianwali starts with reconstruction
of cities and urban settlements that can act as knowledge hubs. This
requires major revamping and strengthening of key constituents that make
a knowledge city. The vision of Imran Khan is to develop a knowledge
city that instills a sense of ownership and attachment in the minds of
people as it actively involves them in developmental activities and
allows for public articulation of thoughts and criticisms. In other
words, citizens of the city become active stakeholders in its
development.
NAMAL
Knowledge city is planned in an area which is rich in minerals,
agriculture, livestock and human capital. The mission is to increase the
employment rate by providing human capital with training, innovation
and entrepreneurial skills. NAMAL is developing a close linkage with
employability by aiming to create skillful businessmen, engineers,
informatics and doctors.
The
social benefit of NAMAL Knowledge City is not only to provide of
quality employment but also to provide new standards and sustainability
for protecting environment. Concept is based on Creation of “Green
Garden and Ecovillages” which focuses on intentional living communities
in which residents agree to create and maintain supportive social
environment. Whether rural or urban, NAMAL Knowledge city aims to
integrate green building practices, renewable energy production,
sustainable waste management, reliance on sustainably and locally
produced foods, and community-building practices committed to social
justice. All of these objectives cannot be obtained in the absence of
link in between rural and urban land which NAMAL is aiming to develop
through its vision of Knowledge City.
In
conclusion, the vision of Imran Khan is to provide social harmony that
could be achieved by ensuring a mixture of classes, maintaining a
relatively small-scale community, reinvesting collective revenue in
community-building, ensuring local employment, and working for a
self-sustaining economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment