Fresh dreams: ‘Pakistani students coming back from Cuba will make good cultural ambassadors’

156 students graduate from Hamdard University.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistani students studying in Cuba will return as fluently speaking Spanish professionals and will become goodwill ambassadors of friendship between Cuba and Pakistan.

This was said by Cuba Ambassador Zenen Buergo Concepcion at Hamdard University’s 9th “Degree Awarding Ceremony 2012” held here on Tuesday.

As many as 156 graduates graduated on the occasion, with gold medals being awarded to Amrozia Fayyaz (MBA), Raja Mehtab Zahir (BE), Umbreen Iftikhar (Pharm. D) and Quratul Ain (Pharm. D).

The ambassador said the university’s founder chancellor Hakim Mohammed Said was an eminent physician of eastern medicine.

He added that relations between Pakistan and Cuba are exemplary in
the education sector, as shown by the students that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) sent to Cuba between 2007 and 2008 as part of a Cuban scholarship programme.

He said about 300 students will graduate by 2013, while the remaining 600 will graduate by 2014.

“We intend to make all efforts to take [more such] initiatives in the future,” he said.

Hamdard University Chancellor S M Zafar said Pakistan and Cuba enjoy excellent bilateral relations.

Sadia Rashid, President of Hamdard Foundation Pakistan, said education is the “single most important ingredient” for progress.

The university’s Islamabad campus has three institutes in disciplines of engineering, management and pharmaceutical Sciences.

There are over 1,000 students currently enrolled in the university, with more than 2,300 having graduated. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 25^th, 2012.