210 graduates awarded degrees at KCD convocation

PESHAWAR: Conferring degrees on graduates of the Khyber College of Dentistry (KCD), Governor Sardar Mahtab Ahmad Khan on Friday urged the young doctors to serve the ailing humanity and focus on research and development.
He awarded degrees to 210 graduates at the convocation of KCD for 2011-2015 sessions.
Gold medals were also given to 11 graduates, out of total 20, for their outstanding performance.
The governor said that education plays an important role in the prosperity of societies and nations. He said only those nations succeeded in the world which concentrated on education, established quality educational institutions and given due respect and honour to their teachers and scholars.
About the college principal, Prof Dr Ghulam Rasool’s demand of providing them 50 kanal of land near Agriculture University Peshawar, and $20, 000 grant for the faculty members to travel to the United States for research, the governor announced 100 kanal of land for construction of residential hostels for the faculty members as well as for the students.
The governor announced a grant of Rs1.5 million for exchange programme with the University of Toledo for the higher training of the faculty of the college.
He, however, politely declined to accept third demand of the college principal and that was about restorations of reserved seats for employees’ children in professional institutions.
“I remember it was in the 1990s when I have abolished reserved seats or quota of employees’ children in professional institutions. There should be merit in these institutions,” the governor said.
Congratulating the graduates and their parents, he advised the young dentists to utilise their potentials for helping the patients, peace, progress and prosperity of the country.
The governor said Khyber College of Dentistry is one of the best and prestigious medical institutions, producing the graduates known for professional skills in and outside Pakistan.
He hoped the graduates would serve the country and utilise professional skills to honestly serve the humanity with good professional conduct.
He added that the role of doctors, paramedics and other health professionals in patients care was very important, therefore, their problems must be resolved.
Prof Dr Hafeezullah, vice-chancellor Khyber Medical University (KMU), also greeted the graduates and their parents and recalled how the college took a start from a small department at the Khyber Medical College (KMC).
He, however, said there is no robust service structure for the dentists. “We don’t have lots of opportunities of offering them employments and that’s because most of our hospitals look after all the other parts of the body but some or the other teeth had been ignored,” Dr Hafizullah lamented.
He said the big tertiary care hospitals such as LRH, KTH and HMC don’t have very good dental set ups. He said there were few job opportunities for dentists in public or private medical colleges in selected specialties.
“I would request if we can make a programme and try to create more specialties, more jobs and more opportunities these wonderful graduates,” VC KMU said.
Principal KCD Prof Dr Ghulam Rasool talked about performance and achievements of the college during the past 50 years.
He said the college started from a small department with two rooms, four teachers and 14 students in KMC on October 11, 1964, has now become one of the prestigious dental colleges of the country. In 1978, he said the department was shifted to a new building, and in 1990, the department of dentistry was upgraded to an independent dental college.
The college, he said, has now been recognised for postgraduate training and the number of seats has been increased from 14 to 77 with 100 per cent house jobs. He said the KCD has produced 1800 dental graduates in the province so far.