Shaukat Ali Jawaid
I had a chance to visit Akhuwat University located in Kasur District near Lahore on December 2nd 2024 and it proved to be a very informative and memorable fascinating experience. This is one of the projects undertaken by Akhuwat Foundation founded by Dr. Amjad Saqib who resigned from Civil Service to do welfare work. Akhuwat initiated one of the most successful Microfinance project in Pakistan to fulfil the dream of a poverty-free society and the Foundation is at present supporting forty lac families all over the country.
Akhuwat University is one of its projects and of its own kind, a No Fee Residential University where students from all over Pakistan are selected on merit and provided free quality higher education. Spread over fifty acres of land, it has by now just completed a few buildings and at present over five hundred students are residing here. The objective is to not only provide the students higher education but also teach them skills so that they can become self-supporting.
I was taken on a guided tour of different sections of the University by Col. Muneem. At present their major emphasis seems to train selected students in information technology and Hospitality. It has a big IT department and experienced facilitators and trainers teach the students. The university has its own server and students can come and sit, learn anytime. It has a good library with unique collection of books on different subjects.
The Hospitality section will eventually become a Four Star Hotel facility where the candidates will be trained. It will have a routine room, luxury suits and Executive rooms which will be used not only for training but will also be used for accommodating the visiting guests and faculty members.
The campus has a state of the art Kitchen where meals for the resident students are prepared in very hygienic conditions. A beautiful mosque located in the center of Administration block and the Residential block has added beauty to the campus. Further civil work and construction, development and expansion of various sections of the university is being undertaken with the help of donors and philanthropists. Akhuwat believes that those who study and are trained here will later on become part and parcel and donors of this welfare project which ensures its sustainability in the long run. University has a Farm where Buffalos and Cows provide the University of its daily requirements of Milk and Ghee (Oil) for its Kitchen making it self-sufficient and they do not have to buy these products. Since the university is in is initial stages, the rest of the land is being used for agriculture purposes. In the days to come Roads network and other buildings in the Campus will be constructed as per the master plan.
Strict discipline is maintained in the university and the students are not allowed to keep Mobile phones. They are allowed this facility only once a week to talk to their parents. The parents visiting their children are provided accommodation and meals at the Campus. Names of donors and philanthropists who keep on helping the University are engraved on Donor walls. Distinguished guests from different sections of society are frequently invited to visit the University and see the success of this model and encourage them to take part in such welfare projects.
Education is the key to success. Government has already handed over to Akhuwat over five hundred primary schools which would have been closed and having seen their success, now handed over another three hundred schools in various parts of the country to run and manage them. Government provides some financial assistance while Akhuwat manages them by generating funds through donations. As long as people like Dr. Amjad Saqib and his colleagues are there, this country has a great future and will overcome its problems and difficulties. We need to appreciate and commend all those individuals, institutions, organizations busy in welfare projects particularly those in the field of education because an educated youth will be able to contribute to the society and play its role in the country’s development and progress.
Ahmad Saqib is a Real Hero who has made dreams come true.In its magnificence and outcome hardly any match in this country.His service to Pakistani deprived speaks itself.I have also visited the project in its infancy two years ago ,If I can remember correctly.My wish and prayer is to be held in esteem before ALMIGHTY ALLAH .Inshallah one day I can visualise him receiving a Nobel Prize.