SBBWU convocation highlights successes of female students

VC requests govt’s help in keeping the university out of financial crisis

PESHAWAR: At the fourth convocation of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women’s University (SBBWU), several women were conferred their respective degrees and gold medals for their outstanding achievements in their chosen fields. The occasion highlighted appreciation for their hard work.

Physically-challenged Faryal Khan of the Department of Psychology, who received a gold medal shared that she never felt that she is disabled or cannot do anything. She asked the media to stop using disabled or other words that presents people in a negative light as incapable of undertaking activities that other people do.

“I am not disabled as I surpassed all the students in my class and I can do everything any other abled person can do,” she shared.

Another student Gul Rukh shared that she is exhilarated today to receive a gold medal for her outstanding performance in her chosen department. She said that it was the fruits of her hard work and prayers of her parents that got her this far. She encouraged other girls and women to work hard and get better results and surpass societal expectations.

Addressing the participants SBBWU Peshawar Vice Chancellor Professor Razia Sultan shared that providing education opportunities to half of the country’s population would ensure their role in the country’s development.

She said that SBBWU was a new university but expressed the hope that it would find a place for itself among the top universities in Pakistan in the next five to 10 years.

However she added that the university was undergoing a stressful period due to the shortage of buildings and hoped to get mega projects from the federal government for assistance. She stressed the need for the establishment of an endowment fund that would keep the university out of financial crisis.

She claimed that affiliation had been extended to 49 programmes at the colleges. Dr Razia Sultana said 4,500 students have been enrolled at the university, 600 of them are from Fata.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra was chief guest and distributed degrees and medals among graduates. He congratulated students for completing their degrees and appreciated the role of parents in providing opportunities to their daughters to get higher education.

He said that the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas now understand the importance of female education and that is the reason that now they allow their daughters to try and achieve their aspirations. He said that the government is trying to provide every opportunity to girls so that they get an education and play their role in the uplift of this country.

The convocation was held in t the convocation hall of the UoP on Monday in which 414 degrees were conferred to the students of BS and masters of different sessions, while 44 gold medals were awarded to the students for outstanding performance in different disciplines.

Around 414 students of BS 2012-16 and 2013-17 sessions and masters of 2012-14 and 2013-15 received degrees, 44 graduates awarded gold medals  while, two PhD and three MPhil degrees were also awarded on this occasion. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2018.