UVAS awards degrees to 1,256 students

About 67 position holders were given medals at the 9th convocation

LAHORE: The government is committed to ensuring quality education and raising standards as its top priority, said Punjab Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development and Pro Chancellor Asif Saeed Manais.

He was addressing at the Ninth Convocation of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) in Lahore on Wednesday.

About 1,256 students were awarded degrees and 67 position holders were given gold medals.

Out of the graduating students, 252 were DVMs, 282 BS (Hons), 83 Pharm-D, 50 Doctors of Nutrition and Dietetics (DND), 40 MBAs, 20 MBF,  36 BBA (Hons),   157 MSc,  311 MPhil and 25 PhDs.



The minister urged students to play their due role in nation building. He lauded the progress achieved by UVAS which had positioned itself among the 2.5% top universities of Asia, the seven best universities of Pakistan in sports and top 10 universities of the country.

He listed various initiatives in livestock and education sectors for development. A Rs2 billion project has been launched for poverty alleviation. Meanwhile, the Punjab Chief Minister's Dairy Development Programme, under the Kissan Package, will provide Rs10 billion worth of heifers, sheep and goats to poor women.

Vice Chancellor Dr Talat Naseer Pasha spoke about the academic, research, development, extension programmes and community services of the university. He said that with a history of 135 years of excellence, UVAS has now positioned itself among the top 2.5 percentile of Asian universities as per the  QS World University Rankings 2018.

As per Higher Education Commission Sports Ranking 2017, UVAS clinched fourth position among public sector universities of Pakistan and seventh among all public and private universities of the country, the VC said. He added that UVAS was also among the top 10 universities of Pakistan, according to HEC’s overall ranking of higher education institutions over the last two years.

Dr Pasha said UVAS is swiftly achieving milestones of need-based multilevel education and establishing itself as a talent development institution by using its knowledge, resources and skills for the growth of human resources. He said that this year, UVAS also secured an affiliation with the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

The VC informed the audience that UVAS scientists were executing 91 research projects worth of Rs1,051 through local and international funding agencies. He added the university was executing 10 development projects, worth Rs4.5 billion, being funded by the Punjab government.



Seven of them are ongoing and three new ones were approved during the current financial year. Ongoing projects include 1) Establishment of Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Bahawalpur, 2) Establishment of Training Centre for Biologics at UVAS, Ravi Campus Pattoki, 3) Development of Ostrich Farming in Punjab, 4) Propagation of Ducks Rearing in Punjab, 5) Development of Camel Milk Value Chain by adopting modern supply chain mechanism for enhancing farmers profitability in Punjab, 6) Establishment of Para-Veterinary School at Narowal and Provision of urgently needed academic block, student hostels and faculty apartments at UVAS City Campus Lahore. While the new development projects were 1) Establishment of Export Facilitation Center for livestock and poultry industry at UVAS, Lahore, 2) Inservice training facility of advance veterinary education and professional development for veterinary professionals and 3) Acquisition of land for up-gradation of Para-Veterinary School, Narowal to College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Narowal.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2017.