Over 300 students get degrees at Ziauddin University convocation

Karachi

As many as 307 students were conferred their degrees by the Ziauddin University at its 13th convocation held at the Expo Centre on Wednesday.

The Sir Ziauddin Ahmed Academic Excellence gold medal was awarded to eight top position holders. They were Suleman from the dental surgery department, Ayesha Akhtar from the biomedical department, Rida Moin from medical technology, Hafsa Munir in speech language therapy, Noureen Shoukat (Generic), Zulekha Saleem in physical therapy, Mahnoor Imran in MBBS  and Meena Mairaj in PharmD.

Addressing the convocation ceremony as the chief guest, Senate Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani acknowledged the achievements of graduating students by stating that they should be proud of their association with the tradition of one of the greatest minds of 20th century, Dr Sir Ziauddin Ahmed, and should do their best to promote the values he stood for in his lifetime.

He advised them to be mindful of the importance of morality in profession and said it was crucial to remember one, besides demonstrating knowledge and skills, must also own and take pride in his or her profession, accountability of their work and also commitment of self-improvement and skills.

 “I am happy to note that Ziauddin University is providing quality education. Moving from strength to strength, it has now entered into its third decade of existence. I pray that Ziauddin University grows further and continued to work for the betterment of Sindh and the country by imparting state-of-the-art education to the students,” said Rabbani.

The guest of honour and the key note speaker on the occasion, Prof Lt Gen (R) Dr Syed Azhar, former vice chancellor of Baqai University, said the day was important in the lives of graduating students because it was a significant milestone in their lives’ journey. 

“You entered into this great institution and facing intense competition, but you pursued your academic work with great dedication. By your hard work and dedication to maintain high standards, you earned your degrees and awards,” he said. “Indeed a graduation is a beginning; a fresh new start. It will not end until you feel fully confident of meeting uncertainties and challenges of life’s laboratory and dealing with success and failures with a positive attitude.”

In his welcome address, vice chancellor of Ziauddin University, Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, said the institution was prominently placed among other institutions of higher education and it prepared students along the most modern of professional skills so that they could be valuable and beneficial for the country.

“But you must keep in mind that you are not ordinary persons, but are rather privileged and special young people, because in Pakistan, there are more than twenty million youth who are out of school or have not even seen one. You are privileged that you had a chance to be educated in good schools, colleges and then the Ziauddin University.  But remember that with privilege, you have more responsibilities to fulfil as a citizen,” he said.

One of the gold medallists, Rida Moin Khan, who earned a bachelors degree in medical technology with a major in Clinical Lab Sciences, expressed that she had been interested in medical technology since she completed her intermediate. “I knew that the Ziauddin University has best faculty and teachers to share their experiences with each and every student,” she remarked. “In today’s world the demand for clinical lab experts had increased manifold.”

Dr Nida Hussain, Associate Dean of faculty affairs read out message from the ZU Chancellor, Dr Asim Hussain, for the audience. It read: “I am sorry not to be amongst you today. [...]

The basic principle of any constitution in any country is equitable justice, freedom of thought and speech as permissible by law, respect of honour and dignity of man.  If these basic principals and rights are trampled then we see emergence of a civil society with no moral values as we see emerging today.

The role of people like Dr Sir Ziauddin Ahmed and institutions like Aligarh, seem to be something of a distant past. Instead of merit, the selected rich elite were allowed to roam the corridors of power with pomp and show, while the weak and honest are incarcerated. If things continue like this we will surely invoke the wrath of Allah.

When you enter institutions of higher education apart from academia, leadership qualities have to be instilled and developed. As schools teach you to follow, higher education institutions need to inculcate the ability to lead, to prepare students to face the real world and practical life.

I would request the Chairman Senate to endeavour to restore student unions to help inculcate leadership and enhance social awareness in our youth. We should follow and learn from history rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. Our nation is going through troubled times cast, creed and religion have divided us, dear graduates it is up to you to show solidarity and continue building this nation.”