Inaugural session of Lecture Series held at Pakistan School Muscat

MUSCAT: Over 300 students from Grades IX-XII participated in the inaugural interactive session of Lecture Series (LS 1.0) at Pakistan School Muscat (PSM) last week.

The initiative is wholly owned, powered and executed by young Pakistani professionals and students via ‘Young Pakistan Forum Oman’, an online platform to synergise Pakistani-Omani Youths, launched on 70th Independence Day of Pakistan on August 14, 2017.

Guest speaker for the inaugural session was Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of Salam Air, who spoke of his personal and professional experiences to inspire students towards achieving inner happiness through the pursuit of dreams.

Captain Mohamed, a Bahraini citizen, claimed flying license from Oxford Air Training Academy School at 18, and at 25 qualified to be the youngest Captain. He pursued higher studies in Aviation Management, in 2003, he led the first low-cost airline in Mid East and in late 2017, he was appointed CEO of Oman’s first low-cost carrier, Salam Air.

Captain Mohamed shared with students how his life changed in 2004 after his left leg was amputated, a knee below, following a bus accident. He, however, converted his challenge into an opportunity and gained further distinction to becoming the first pilot to fly a commercial jet on prosthesis (artificial limb) and remains actively involved in a wide range of sports i.e., free diving, holding breath for 4 minutes and helps new amputees regain their lives.

Anchorperson Humaira Chaudhry, teacher PSM formally welcomed the guests and introduced the speaker at the event moderated by Ali Javed, Ambassador of Pakistan, who recalled discussing the concept of ‘YES’ during his first meeting with CEO Salam Air in September 2016. Ambassador stated that ‘YES’ foresees ‘LS 1.0’ and an ‘Internship Circuit’ (IC) to enrich students’ knowledge and honing their skills into leadership roles.

Ambassador acknowledged the 10 volunteering students who executed ‘ LS 1.0’ and two young Pakistani professionals, Yaseer Bhatti and Mudassir Rizvi both receiving initial education in Oman and subsequently pursuing BSc Hons from Brunel (2009-12) Undergrad Economic – Harvard 2008, and B. Engineering Hons (2004-06) and MSc Information Systems Engineering (2006-07) Manchester University, respectively.

LS 1.0 was live streamed to six branches of Pakistan School System across the Sultanate. The overwhelming applause of the students for the guest speaker and the absorbing Q&A reflected the eager keenness of both sides to connect and interact.