Governor links uplift to education

LAHORE: The 6th convocation of University of Education was held at the university’s Township Campus here on Thursday in which 3,708 graduates including 16 PhD and MPhil students were conferred degrees while 58 students were awarded gold, bronze and silver medals.

Punjab Governor/Chancellor of the university Malik Muhammad Rafique Rajwana chaired the convocation while Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Rauf-i-Azam, Chairman Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) Dr Mohammad Nizamuddin, faculty members and a large number of students were present on the occasion.

Rafique Rajwana congratulated the graduating students and said it was ‘our first and foremost responsibility to provide a strong Pakistan and better future to our youth.’ He said development and progress could only be achieved through education and added the incumbent government was utilising maximum resources for the promotion of higher education. The governor further said without education a degree was a mere piece of paper and urged the students to strive hard to get education while completing their degrees. He said in order to compete with the world, ‘we needed to focus research and latest knowledge’. He added the University of Education was emerging as a well-respected seat of teaching, learning and research on the horizon of higher education institutions in Pakistan. Earlier, the governor awarded degrees and medals to the graduating students.

While speaking on this occasion, Prof Dr Rauf-i-Azam said the university had over 378 faculty members, with about 130 faculty members having doctorates, and every other faculty member with a minimum of MPhil qualification.

Dr Rauf-i-Azam said presently the university had 59 PhD and about 800 MPhil students. He added the University of Education held a respectable place among the large public-sector universities of Pakistan, with maximum number of sub-campuses, catering the educational needs of people all over Punjab with an estimated enrollment of 21,964 students.

The VC further said last year, the university hosted and conducted two considerable projects-Chinese Language Scholarship Programme and Turkish Language Scholarship Programme, with over 495 and 30 successful awardees respectively from across the province.

Dr Rauf-i-Azam further said the Punjab government had also trusted University of Education with its project “Public School Support Program”, in which a number of public schools in Sheikhupura and Attock were handed over to the university. The enrollment of these schools has raised from 2,600 students in 2016 to 6,000 students in the year 2017, in Sheikhupura alone, he added.

He said Planning Commission of Pakistan had approved a project recently for Township Campus Lahore, with total cost of Rs 969.552 million and we hope that the Higher Education Commission and the Punjab government will further look into the much-needed expansion and development of the university.