Convocation Day: UoP confers degrees upon 500 postgraduate students

Twenty six outstanding performers receive gold medals.

PESHAWAR: Around 500 students, including 333 women, were awarded postgraduate degrees at the convocation for the academic session of 2011 at the University of Peshawar (UoP) on Wednesday.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Governor and UoP Chancellor Shaukatullah Khan was the chief guest at the event held at the university’s Convocation Hall.

Degrees were awarded to students of six faculties and 43 departments. Twenty six outstanding performers – 12 female and 14 male students - received gold medals, while 16 PhD scholars and 23 MPhil scholars were also awarded the highest research degrees.

In his address, Governor Shaukatullah congratulated the graduates, their parents and teachers, saying the students’ achievement showed their gratitude and respect towards their institution.

The governor added only increasing the number of universities in the country – without focusing on research, publications and development – would be quite meaningless. “It is heart warming to know that UoP’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) ranking has improved this year,” said Shaukatullah.

UoP Vice Chancellor (VC) Professor Dr Rasul Jan also spoke on the occasion. Jan said over 20,000 students were currently enrolled at the university in six different faculties, comprising 50 various departments, institutes, centres and colleges. “The UoP has 597 teachers, of whom 211 are PhD degree holders,” he added.

“The University of Peshawar is aware of its social responsibility and is not just limited to classroom activities. Instead, we contribute to the society in a positive way through capacity building of different government departments,” shared Jan.

Sher Khan, a gold medallist in Botany, told The Express Tribune he and his family were very happy with his achievement. “Any student can win a medal, if they work hard enough.”

Another graduate from the Islamic Studies department, who suffers from polio, said: “Even though I belong to a poor family from Swabi, it was my dream to obtain a degree from the UoP. Today, I feel very proud.”

The convocation was attended by VCs of various public and private universities, UoP Registrar Dr Syed Fazle Hadi, faculty deans, students and their parents.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2013.