Last week students, faculty, and staff from LUMS and the University of Baltistan, Skardu (UoBS) celebrated the successful completion of the inaugural session of ‘Learning Without Borders: The Baltistan Experience’. 150 students from LUMS, and 150 students from UoBS, came together for a month in Skardu, where they participated in one of five experiential learning programmes. The closing ceremony on the Anchan Campus in Skardu provided an opportunity to share learnings and to commemorate the successful conclusion of this ground-breaking programme.
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Dr. Ishtiaq Hussain, Assistant Professor and focal person, UoBS, highlighted the opportunities that the programme provided. “There is a lot of knowledge and wisdom hidden behind these mountains. As students and faculty, you observed the environment around you, picking up rocks, flowers, going in the water, seeing energy resources – observing them all and embracing this opportunity for learning,” he said.
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Representing the LUMS faculty, Dr. Muhammad Tariq, Associate Professor, congratulated students and said, “I can say with full conviction that this dream that we have woven together is the seed you have sown for a new era, new research and new teaching. InshaAllah we will harvest its fruit together in the coming years.” Dr. Naeem Khan, Vice Chancellor, UoBS, referred to the landmark academic collaboration between both universities. “This partnership will continue and become a model on how to learn together, how to help each other, how to study the environment and learn from our ecology and culture.”
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Dr. Arshad Ahmad, Vice Chancellor, LUMS, encouraged the graduating cohort to look beyond disciplinary boundaries: “Remember that everything that you have learned is connected. Real education unlocks what we didn’t understand before. He also echoed sincere appreciation to everyone involved and looked forward to further strengthening the programme next year”. Speaking about the future, he continued: “We are going to build a foundation for many more iterations of the programme that will go beyond universities to serve communities at large.”
