An interview with the Rector of MITE – Dr. Huma Baqai
MiTE is a project of The Millennium Trust for Education and Entrepreneurship (TMTEE) built on 3Es principle (Empathy, Entrepreneurship and Equity). The founders of the trust TMTEE also have contributed towards building and creating the legacy of The Roots Millennium Schools Pakistan, Pakistan’s third-largest educational group in Pakistan for K-12 education. They also are responsible and proud founders of The Millennium Universal College, the Transnational Higher Education Wing of The Millennium Education group.
The team of passionate academicians is spearheading MiTE with the same objective of delivering quality teaching and learning reflective of the legacy of 35 years. MiTE is recognized globally as a center of educational excellence, learning opportunity, teaching entrepreneurship, and talent. MiTE’s Curriculum is built on the principles of imparting the best knowledge to learners and enhancing their skills. They provide guidance to their students to recognize and operate themselves by making connections. They provide coaching and counseling, which provides an opportunity to learn from the multiplicity of languages being offered and to develop skills through digital literacy and ICT integration programmes.
MiTE is a unique education hub for knowledge, service, learning, innovation, practice, and entrepreneurship that infuses experiential and intercultural learning by personally enriching each student’s experience. By scaling emerging models and ideas that could eventually be translated into lifelong learning, innovation, education, and change for national and global development.
PAGE: When was MiTe established and what was the reason behind locating the campus in Korangi?
Dr. Huma: MITE is established under Sindh Act and got its charter from Higher Education Commission on 1st June, 2022 and we intend to commence first fall semester session in September. So, it is a relatively young but boldly conceived university, determined to grow fast and position itself as a prestigious Higher Education Institution in the country and abroad. Let me take this opportunity to share with you my vision for the institute developed over 30 plus years of experience. MITE is an innovative institution for learning and development. Our main objective is to transform MITE to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, we hope to do that by introducing the best academic programs that are also at par with leading global standards. We are dedicated towards making MITE the “university of choice” within the country and across the globe. The devotion, skill, and experience available at MITE will allow us to successfully fulfil this ambitious vision in the coming years. As regards why Korangi was chosen for the campus, let me apprise you that being industrial hub, it will help us build industry linkages on one hand and on the other, being in close proximity with universities like Iqra, IoBM and Salim Habib, will make us competitive which is always good means we will always be on our toes.
PAGE: Does MITE offer some unique or special courses?
Dr. Huma: Presently, courses are being offered in the discipline of Management Sciences (Business), Computer Sciences and Fashion Designing. The curriculum mainly revolves around the themes of Technology, Design and Entrepreneurship.
MITE students are very important to us, we offer a productive learning environment and innovative opportunities for achieving academic goals. By inspiring, encouraging, and challenging our students, we want them to become future leaders in various disciplines. Students from diverse backgrounds are welcomed to the campus, where they come together to learn and grow holistically for becoming better citizens of the world.
We also offer a wide variety of curricular and extracurricular opportunities to promote intellectual potentials of our students and to equip them with essential employability skills, such as effective communication, critical thinking, and problem solving. In the years to come, we hope to extend out-reach of MITE by introducing innovative academic programs and research endeavors that cater to the needs of a larger pool of aspiring students and researchers.
PAGE: Will MITE offer scholarships to students performing exceptionally well?
Dr. Huma: Yes, we do offer need, talent and merit based scholarships as we believe that education is not a cost but an investment we make for our future generations. At MITE, we want to translate our passion for Pakistan into a reality. In times of urban chaos, we want to play our part as a private sector university by inculcating knowledge creation in the young minds which makes the greater part of our demography to cover the gaps left by the public sector.
At present, we have five fully funded scholarships, three for Business students and one each for students of Computer Sciences and Fashion Designing. We also intend to market it by creating a special fund under our Corporate Social Responsibility Program.