Universities Must Align Graduates’ Skills With Industry Needs: GCU

News Desk

Lahore: Strengthening links between universities and industry is essential to ensure graduates possess the skills required by the modern job market, Government College University (GCU) Vice Chancellor Dr Asghar Zaidi has said.

Addressing a two-day conference on “Fisheries and Aquaculture” organised by GCU in collaboration with leading industry stakeholders, Dr Zaidi said universities needed to reassess how effectively they were preparing students for professional careers.

He said feedback from industry suggested that even highly qualified graduates often required additional training after joining the workforce.

“We have been told by the industry that you send us your best graduates and we have to teach them again,” Dr Zaidi said, stressing the need for universities to strengthen practical and market-oriented learning.

He said conferences bringing academics and industry representatives together provided an opportunity for both sides to openly discuss shortcomings and identify ways to make graduates more productive and better prepared for employment in Pakistan and abroad.

Dr Zaidi added that stronger university-industry collaboration could also help improve research, innovation and employment opportunities for young graduates.

Provincial Secretary Fisheries Shahid Zaman said the growth of the fisheries sector was closely linked to academic research and technical expertise. He said no industry could develop sustainably without the support of universities, researchers and other knowledge institutions.

He added that the government was providing subsidies to the private sector to promote investment in fisheries and meet growing commercial demand while also protecting biodiversity in rivers.

Faculty members and students from 25 universities, along with representatives of around 19 fisheries-related industries, are participating in the conference, which features six technical sessions focused on various aspects of fisheries and aquaculture.