Female students clinch top positions in all KU faculties’ exams

Female graduates again outshined male students in terms of academic excellence at the 30th convocation of the University of Karachi (KU) held on Saturday as girls clinched all the prestigious academic medals, including the first position in the entire university and the first positions in all the eight faculties.

A total of 7,184 graduated this year, and 2,033 of them were awarded degrees for programmes of various departments under the eight faculties of the varsity. A total of 208 students received gold medals.

A female graduate, Sajida, who was enrolled on the masters degree programme at the Department of Mathematics, clinched three gold medals, including the one that was dedicated to the martyred students of the APS Peshawar for securing the overall first position in the entire university. She received the second gold medal for holding the first position in the Faculty of Science, and the third for achieving the first position in the Department of Mathematics.

Talking with The News, Sajida said she had dedicated her APS gold medal to the parents who lost their children in the terrorist attack and the students and teachers who were martyred.

“It was the most disastrous day in the history of Pakistan. I always wished to do something in the name of the martyred children of the APS. Now, I have the opportunity and want to dedicate my gold medal to them, their parents and teachers.”

The position holders at the faculty level included Faiza Sabir for securing the highest marks in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Alieya Ali in the Faculty of Education, Sumaira Ashraf in the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Tasmeena Perveen and Syeda Izza Maryam Rizvi in the Faculty of Law, Sayyeda Sualeha Waseem in the Faculty of Pharmacy, and Farah Siddiqi and Muqaddas Jelani in the Faculty of Management and Administrative Sciences.

Statistics

According to statistics released by the KU, 3,166 degrees were awarded in different departments working under the Faculty of Science, 1,865 degrees in departments under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 718 degrees under the Faculty of Management and Administrative Sciences, 284 degrees under the Faculty of Education, 268 degrees under the Faculty of Islamic Studies, 216 degrees under the Faculty of Pharmacy, 80 degrees under the Faculty of Law, and 21 degrees under the Faculty of Engineering.

As many as 292 students received MPhil degrees while 255 students earned PhD degrees at the convocation. Fifteen students were awarded two-year master programme degrees such as MS, MD and DSc. A total of 645 students received BA (Hon) degrees, whereas, 68 students were awarded BS degrees.

From the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 1,142 students received masters degrees. A total of 1,186 students were the recipients of BSc (Hon) degrees, while 357 graduates were awarded BS degrees. As many as 623 graduates of the departments under the Faculty of Science received masters degrees.

Those who received Pharm-D degrees were 216, while 95 graduates bagged two-year BCom degrees. A total of 109 students obtained BPA (Hon) degrees and as many were awarded BS degrees.

Governor’s speech

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, who is also the chancellor of all the public sector universities in Sindh including the KU, addressed the convocation.

“A Majority of the female students including the position holders do not start their professional carriers or it comes to an end in an early stage due to their marriages or some other reasons which are not a good sign for the country,” he said.

He mentioned that notable personalities were produced by the KU or were affiliated with it who included Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, Dr Attaur Rehman, Raees Amhrohi, Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, Prof ABA Haleem and others.

“Unfortunately, around 40 per cent of youngsters after completing their graduation plan to leave the country as they believe that it would be a better option for their future. However, they should have faith and confidence in themselves and dedication to work for the country,” the governor remarked.

He shared that 70 per cent of the economics of the world would be run by 20 countries in 2023 and Pakistan for the very first time would be a part of that privileged group. He also maintained that there was no shortage of job opportunities in the country.

Acting VC’s remarks

KU Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi said the international ranking of the KU had significantly improved due to the hard work and expertise of the faculty members.

He informed the audience that the varsity had leaped forward in the Asia University Rankings on 239th position. Compared to last year, the KU at present is recognised as one of the best higher education institutions of the region, he said.

Prof Iraqi said the varsity had inked many memorandums of understanding with foreign varsities to foster global competence and share experiences of best global academic practices.

“We have also charted out a four-year bachelor's programme in Chinese language which will have a 2-2 split, with half of the course – that is two years – to be conducted in China at the Sichuan Normal University.”

The acting VC said the KU always helped the students and for the first time the administration had decided to offer scholarships to those who could not apply for admissions due to financial reasons.

Top position holder students

Alieya, who secured the first position in the entire Faculty of Education, said she would pursue a career in the education sector to educate more and more women. “It is not important for a girl to be employed. But the only thing which is much important for a female is education. Women literacy will ultimately change society.”

The overall first position in the masters programme of the Faculty of Management and Business Administration was clinched by two girls, Farah and Muqaddas.

Talking to The News, Farah said the female graduates had received more degrees with distinction in professional education than their male counterparts. She added that though the girls achieve good percentage in their final results, a majority of them give up professional careers.

“In our society, people generally expect that the sole responsibility for making a family lies with the women in spite of the fact that a family is created by a man and a woman together and they are equally responsible for it,” she said, adding that she would like to pursue a career in teaching business education to educate more females and bring them in the field of business.

Muqaddas said the future of Pakistan is bright as it has talented manpower, striving to improve its economy and literacy rate. She added that nowadays, the parents and employers encourage the women to get professional degrees while society has also started to accept the positive role of working women.

When asked why male students do not generally put efforts in education, which is evident from the fact that very few of them secure positions in examinations, but they are still able to get high-ranked and well-paid jobs in comparison to female graduates, she said boys study with the objective of securing jobs in the future; whereas, girls have an extra motivation than them as they have to prove themselves in society, which, however, does not provide equal opportunities to the women.

Tasmeena who bagged the overall first position in the Faculty of Law remarked that achieving top position might be helpful in pursuing professional careers. She said in our society, women suffer from many problems on a daily basis, but added that they should accept all such challenges because no one would come forward to resolve their issues.

She was of the view that as there was a lack of practising female lawyers, the new female law graduates were not able to find many mentors who could guide them in the early stages of their career.