LUMS School of Education (SOE) hosted an EduSpeak session on April 19, 2018 with Mr. Bilal Haider, the Deputy Commissioner of Bhakkar District.
Mr. Bilal Haider has earned a Master’s Degree from National University of Singapore, and Harvard University in Public Management and Leadership.
The event took place in the VC faculty lounge, and was attended by distinguished MNAs, MPAs and administrators from Bhakkar district, LUMS faculty, staff and students. The audience also included, Dr. Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, MNA; Mr. Ameer Muhammad Khan, MPA; Mr. Inamullah Khan Niazi, MPA; Mr. Ghazanfar Abbas Chheena, MPA; Mr. Amir Inayat Khan Shahani, MPA and Mr. Wasiq Abbas, District Monitoring Officer, Bhakkar.
Dr. Mariam Chughtai and Mr. Bilal Haider had an interactive discussion on the key educational challenges faced in the Bhakkar district. Mr. Bilal explained how he has played a critical role in the transformation of the district, given Bhakkar was a poorly performing, rural area district prior to his tenure. Under his leadership, district Bhakkar today stands at the 2nd position in the Punjab, among 36 districts, in the ‘Chief Minister Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme’. He has also opened MSc classes in public colleges of Bhakkar, and introduced the Cambridge education system in the city.
Mr. Bilal Haider and Dr. Mariam Chughtai emphasised on the importance of the collaboration between LUMS SOE and the Bhakkar district, and how both parties can provide mutual strategic support in research. The partnership will move towards bridging the gap between theory and practice, and will assist LUMS students and faculty to conduct research and field work in Bhakkar. This engagement will allow LUMS SOE to get to the very grass-root level understanding of the management of an education system at a district level and making tangible use of those findings. The partnership will ensure that faculty and students at SOE will be able to delve into questions of research, policy and practice and benefit from immersive field engagement with educational institutions in Bhakkar.
