1,027 students awarded degrees at SZABIST convocation

Chief minister announces scholarships for 10 students and grant on the occasion

KARACHI: As many as 1027 students were awarded degrees at the 14th convocation of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (Szabist) held at the Pakistan Air Force Convention Centre on Saturday.

The convocation was attended by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, members of the Szabist Board of Governors and Szabist Board of Trustees, faculty members, graduates along with their family members and staff.

In his speech, the CM congratulated the graduating students and said the youth of Sindh were proving their mettle in all spheres of life. He urged the youngsters to work to improve education and health conditions in the country.

"No doubt, what you have achieved today will help the country," the CM said, adding that he was seeing a prosperous future for the graduating students. Shah said the Sindh government was keen to improve the standards of education in the province and was trying to introduce reforms to increase the vocational expertise of students. The government was also trying to bring modern education in madrassas, he said.



The CM also announced a grant of Rs5 million for Szabist and scholarships for 10 students at the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Szabist Chancellor Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho congratulated the students, their parents, teachers and staff members. Expressing gratitude to the CM, she said he had been working for promoting education. Quoting Benazir Bhutto, the chancellor said education was a vital aspect of society. She informed the ceremony that Benazir had also toured the institute. The chancellor added that Quaid-i-Azam considered students an integral part of progressive society.

Four PhDs, 558 masters and 465 undergraduate degrees were awarded to students who studied the disciplines of management science, social science, media science, bioscience, mechatronics engineering and computer science.

Talking to Express News, Ahmed Arshad, a student of bioscience, said it was the most memorable day of his life. "I fell extremely sick in the first semester [and got bad grades] due to which I had to work really hard in the rest of the semesters," he said.



The 12 students who received academic gold medals in various disciplines included Sana Shakeel, Talha Amin, Duaa Ahmed, Hafsa Mir, Hina Naz, Hina Qadir, Sarah William, Javeriah Almani, Nida Abaad Elias, S Eliya Raza, Hussain Muhammad and Sumaiya Shafi Rahu. The students who received academic silver medals were Farheen Saleem, Yousuf Tahir, Afreen Damani, Marium Altaf, Iqra Awais, Anam, Muhammad Imran, Fazila Gul Faqeer Muhammad, Mashmuma, Sumaira Siddique and Nimra Mir.

The gold medal of MBA student William was received by her mother at the convocation. With tearful eyes, she said her dream had been fulfilled. She proudly revealed that her daughter had to give tuitions to complete her education.