PHOTO: FILE
Acting Chinese Ambassador, Lijian Zhao, was the guest of honor while Vice Chancellor Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad presided over the ceremony.
As many as 40 PhD degrees, 1,399 MPhil, 31,724 MA/MSc, 15,961 BS/BBA and 29,577 BA/BSc degrees were awarded to students in the disciplines of Medical and Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Agriculture, Sciences, Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences. Also, 480 students with distinctions were given medals. It was interesting to note that 61% of those awarded degrees were girl students.
Addressing the ceremony, Lijian Zhao expressed gratitude to the VC for providing him an opportunity to visit Sargodha, the city of eagles, for the first time.
265 students awarded degrees at DUET convocation
He appreciated the university administration for building academic and research linkages with esteemed Chinese institutions. The acting ambassador urged students to equip themselves with right knowledge and skills to play their part in taking Pak-China relations to the new heights and getting maximum benefits from China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
"In 2010, only 2,000 Pakistani students were studying in China; however this number increased exponentially ever since the launch of CPEC, taking it up to 28,000 in 2018. Pakistan currently ranks third in the number of students studying in China, behind South Korea and Thailand," he added.
Zhao said that China offers a wide variety of scholarships to Pakistani students and encourages them to study in China. "Out of a total 28,023 Pakistani students studying in China, more than 7,000 are pursuing their education on scholarships."
Dr Ahmad congratulated the students on their achievement. He said the university is making a huge difference in the demographic and economic growth of Sargodha.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2019.
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