4th National Convention on Students Quality Circles, 12 – 13 Nov 2012

By Ms Aatika Salam, Executive Director EQUIP-Pakistan

The 4^th National Convention on Students Quality Circles is starting in Modernage Public School and College, Abbottabad from today. It is a two days event which has both national and international dimensions owing to the presence of educationists like Mr. Rajesh Sureshtha & Mr. Mukhanda Raj Sharma from Little Angels School, Kathmandu, Nepal. Besides these two distinguished delegates EQUIP-Pakistan has also the collaboration of Kingston University, UK as Mr. Waqas Ahmed is representing this university. It must be mentioned here that Dr. Richard Ennals, also from Kingston University, has been attached with EQUIP-Pakistan for the last five year when in Nov, 2008 he participated in person as the chief guest and the keynote speaker of the 1^st National Convention on Students Quality Circles, Pakistan. The two days program consists of four sessions in which the quality gurus from across the country are participating which includes creditable names like Dr. Kamram Moosa from PIQC, Lahore, Ms. Izzat Jehan Aqdus from AATI, Islamabad, Mr. Ijaz Yousaf from University of Management & Technology, Lahore, Mr. Shahid Warsi & Mr. Abdul Hameed from AFAQ, Pakistan, Mr. Shahzad Umer from KSB Pumps Hassanabdal, to name just a few. More than 500 students from 27 institutions will participate in six different competitions which include Case Study Presentation, Debate Competition, Paper Presentation by Students, Collage Competition, Poster-Making Competition and Story-Forming Competition. Perhaps the greatest achievement of this convention is that it includes not only private and public sector schools but it also includes students from Madrassas and special education schools as well.

Equip- Pakistan is committed to making a difference in the lives of the students by upholding the norms of Students Quality Circles. These circles achieve the objective of inculcating the spirit of cooperation, coordination, collaboration and consensus in our youth from the forum of EQUIP-Pakistan which works with the objective of empowering students for life by teaching them problem solving skills in real life situations.

Since 2008, National Conventions have been held in November every year in Abbottabad. We are grateful to each and every person who has contributed, is contributing and will be contributing to the cause of SQCs. We believe that it is not the hard times that break the nations, it is the insensitivity to the need of the change and the denial of the hard realities that push them to the abyss of oblivion.                               

The darkest moments are those that are before the dawn. We have lost a lot in the night that spread out on our horizons but we have the dawn not far behind. We have much to be optimistic about the approaching dawn. We have a nation that is resilient and robust; we have a force of youth that makes up the 65% of our population. This very force is our hope and our future; this very force is the focus of our love, attention and nurture.

For updates and photographs please visit www.equippakistan.org