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"I initiated PhD programs ,LLM and started number of New Departments at LLU" ,Dr. Nadeem Ahmad Bhatti Vice-Chancellor of LLU

Lahore Leads University (LLU) is located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is a private university and is abbreviated as LLU.

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"I initiated PhD programs ,LLM and started number of New Departments at LLU" ,Dr. Nadeem Ahmad Bhatti  Vice-Chancellor of LLU
GNN Media: Representational Photo

It is chartered by the Government of Punjab and officially recognized by Higher Education Commission (HEC). The first Vice Chancellor of LLU was Dr. Khairat M.Ibne Rasa who was awarded the highest Pakistani civilian award, “Sitara-e-Imtiaz” by the Government of Pakistan.

Currently, Dr. Nadeem Ahmad Bhatti Pakistan-based Canadian national, is a Vice-Chancellor of LLU who has worked with various institutions worldwide. With his vast exposure to Asia, North America, and Australia, he has acquired expertise in curriculum development and the pedagogical delivery of interdisciplinary and intercultural educational programs in a variety of settings. In Australia, he taught business subjects to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He had been a member of the Academic Senate at the Flinders University of South Australia. He was elected as President of International Students at the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia.

In Canada, he worked as a faculty head with a leading training institution in Toronto. He was responsible for implementing laws related to post-secondary education, skills training, quality assurance and strategic policy under the Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities, Ontario. Before coming to Canada, Mr. Bhatti’s first teaching experience was at the University of the Punjab, Pakistan where he served as Head of Faculty. He has been a Member Academic Senate at the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.

On the practical front, Dr. Nadeem Ahmad Bhatti was recruited by the Government of Saudi Arabia to work as a training consultant with the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industries. Dr. Nadeem Bhatti received his Post Graduation and PhD from Australia. His research can be categorized into several interrelated areas including: teaching and training in business, HR, marketing, management and organizational behavior. Dr. Nadeem holds a Higher Education Teaching Certificate, Harvard University, USA, is a member of Certified Training and Development Professional, Canada, and has been an Executive Development Trainer with various organizations including Banks, Manufacturing Companies, Airlines, IT Companies, Telecommunication, Health Care and Educational Institutions. 

In an interview with GNN, VC LLU spoke about various issues including initiatives and reforms introduced over the last few years.

1.      How is your experience with LLU as Vice Chancellor?

I joined LLU eight months ago. It’s a very exciting experience. LLU being a relatively small university has a lot of challenges, and I accepted those challenges. I am addressing those challenges and enjoying my work. So overall it was a great experience. 

2.      What initiatives have you taken after assuming the post of VC of Lahore Leads University?

Ans: We have taken lots of initiatives on different ends. For example, on the academic end, we have introduced some new programs. We do not have PhD programs and are about to start. I initiated PhD programs. We did not have LLM program. For this purpose, we have processed the application and are now ready to start our LLM program. We have started some new programs in the Business department and we are working on those programs. In the next admission, we are launching some new degree programs in the Faculty of Education which are basically two different areas where we want to work. One is teaching English as a foreign language and another is early childcare education. These are new areas that we are working on. Apart from academic, administrative areas, we focused on students’ activities like sports. A lot of students participate in it so we focus on student's activities. We believe that student activities help to develop their personality so for this purpose I pushed my team to introduce more student activities and more leisure time as well. So students can interact with each other, learn from each other and which will groom their personalities as well. 

3.      What do you think are the most important issues faced by the University?

Ans: There are some issues that are being faced by almost every university and that is a decline in admissions. So many universities are struggling with that area where they have less admissions. We have the same problem too. I do not consider it the biggest challenge. I assume that if we have the quality we will not have difficulty. Therefore, the biggest issue we have is a consistent quality that we do not compromise on quality. Our teachers should be quality teachers. Our process should be a quality process and ultimately our product should be a quality product. 

 

4.      Do you think the curriculum at present is adequate to match the present-day requirements?

Ans: More or less yes. But still, some changes are needed and we have introduced some changes in our curriculum. For example, we want that our university should focus on entrepreneurship so that our students should be able to run their own businesses. They should come to the university not to be an employee but to be an employer. So that reason we have incorporated entrepreneurship in every program and that is the major change in our curriculum. We have updated our curriculum to introduce various subjects that were not there as well as upgraded our course outlines and course content.

5.      Has Lahore Leads University planned any collaboration with foreign universities in this era of globalization?

Ans: In this era of globalization it is impossible to remain isolated. We have also joined hands with various universities around the world as well. Your question is about collaboration and we have planned to collaborate one in Canada and the other in Malaysia. Our Executive Director, Mr. Hamza Zahoor Wattoo, is supervising this collaboration. An initiative we took during my tenure is the collaboration with Yorkville University in Ontario, Toronto, Canada. Interestingly, we send them our course outlines and scheme of study which they liked. They gave full credit to our scheme of studies. Therefore, they offered us two plus two like two years in Pakistan and two years in Canada and they would award a degree. Our Executive Director, Mr. Hamza Zahoor Wattoo, a graduate of the UK just came to Pakistan and brought a lot of bright ideas. To implement those ideas, we collaborated with a university in Malaysia to facilitate the exchange of our students and faculty, collaboration in the field of research, facility of use of each other’s library, and external examiners. 

6.      Every year number of graduates who pass out from university is unemployable. What initiative LLU has taken in this regard?

Ans: Firstly, we are very confident that most of our graduates are employed. We do not have many graduates who are unemployed. But still, we want everyone to have a job and we want that people should have better jobs than whatever they have. For this reason, we have activated our career and counseling centers. That’s where we advise people on how to find jobs, job search skills, how to make your CV, and how to appear in an interview. We have invited many organizations in our university to conduct job fairs and started a recruitment drive for our university. So that’s what we did to increase the employability of our graduates. 

7.      What role private sector educational institutions have played in quality education?

Ans: Private sector organization is a playing very important role in quality education. You know that the government in Pakistan does not have enough funds to provide quality education to every citizen of the country. I must appreciate our chairman Mian Zahoor Ahmad Wattoo who initiated the idea of starting a private-sector university. Now we are actually sharing the burden of the government by providing quality education to the general public. Basically, it was the responsibility of the government but now we are doing it well. So our role is that we are providing quality education to the general public. We are supplying manpower to various organizations in the country. We are proud that many of our graduates are now holding top positions in various sectors of the country. Apart from this, at our research end, we have our own research journals where our faculty and various scholars of the country get an opportunity to publish their work. So private sector institutions are producing quality research, they are helping with inventions, and innovations, and helping develop the economy of Pakistan. 

 

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