KU welcomes new students with massive procession

The University of Karachi celebrated Youm-e-Jamia (University Day) by staging a procession on Friday.

The newly enrolled students and alumni along with acing Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, the registrar, deans of all faculties, members of Senate and Syndicate, chairpersons and directors of various departments, research centres and institutes and faculty members and employees followed the 30 Huffaz-e-Quran entering the campus from the Silver Jubilee Gate and reciting the Holy Quran. The procession ended at the ground adjacent to the New Administration Building.

The KU’s alumni association -- Unikarians International -- with the collaboration of the university had organised the event to welcome the fresh batch of students and their parents. Mohammad Ahmed Shah, the president of the Arts Council, was also present on this occasion.

Students’ Adviser Dr Syed Asim Ali briefed the audience about the history of the shifting of the University of Karachi from the old location to the existing place. He also highlighted the importance of the day and shared moments from the glorious past of the varsity.

Prof Iraqi welcomed the new entrants to the university and hoped that they would play their role in the development of the varsity. He informed the audience that the university was Pakistan’s largest university and termed it as a mini-Pakistan.

“Our campus represents the whole of Pakistan; it has people from every district of the country and with such diversity you will feel like visiting every part of the motherland and meeting every citizen.”

He said that 300 scholarships from the Sindh Endowment Fund would be available for students, besides many scholarships like Higher Education Commission, the Prime Minister Scholarship Program called Ehsaas, and many others are available for the students. He also said the KU would provide the need and merit-based scholarships to its students.

Prof Iraqi shared that the KU had recently established a special fund known as Student’s Admission Fund (SAF) for those students who could not afford to apply due to their financial conditions.

He mentioned that the KU was also providing help to differently-abled students so that they could study free of cost at the university. He advised the students to respect their teachers and cooperate with administrative staff and help the administration in making the campus clean and green.

“Without knowledge, development is just a dream but unfortunately education is not among the priorities of our elite rulers due to which we are still unable to be included in the list of developed countries.”

Prof Iraqi said that the Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah always considered education a matter of life and death, but in Pakistan, investment in education was considered a burden.

Meanwhile, President Arts Council Mohammad Ahmad Shah said that a mobile phone had brought the whole world into our palms and it was up to us how to utilise it. Around 30-35 years ago, it took almost a month or two to receive books from foreign publishers but now thanks to the latest technology we could immediately access and download books from the internet, he said.

He advised the students to engage in positive activities, besides studying on campus, and also rather than wasting time on internet surfing use it for productive purposes.

Former KU VC Prof Dr Muhammad Qasir shared that the University of Karachi had a name all over the world and its degree was respected all over the world. The importance of any factory is measured by its product and the product of educational institutions is its graduates, he said.

“When the graduates of the University of Karachi step into the practical life and go to serve at the national and international level, they are highly valued for their performance and their credentials are viewed with respect.”

President Unikarians International Professor Ejaz Ahmed Faruqi said that newcomers might not be aware of the fact that the KU had a major role in their character building and after completing their studies these students would become useful members of society.

He mentioned that today, we have repeated the decades-old tradition of celebrating the foundation day of the university, and the students who are present here today will remember this day throughout their lives as this is their new beginning. They will learn a lot during their studies and become stronger and more confident after completing their degrees.

“You need to focus all your attention on education and the job of the university is to build your personality apart from education.”

President Karachi University Teachers Association Professor Dr Shah Ali Ul Qadr said that you are fortunate that you have entered the University of Karachi in the shadow of recitation of the Holy Quran and newcomers are not welcomed in any other university in such a way where all the teachers, administrative staff and elders of the city including the vice chancellor are present for the reception of thousands of students.