GCU convocation: ‘We don’t stop going to school when we graduate’

Prime minister receives honorary doctorate.

LAHORE:

The Government College University on Friday awarded an honorary doctorate to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his services for Pakistan, democracy and his alma mater.

Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar, Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan and GCU Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Khaleequr Rahman presented the honorary PhD degree to the prime minister at the university’s 12th convocation wherein 1,215 students also received degrees and medals.

“They confer a degree on me and then talk about a grant of Rs9 billion,” the prime minister joked in his acceptance speech. “I wonder if I [would be seen to have] come here to buy a degree.”

The premier also talked about his days as a Government College student.

“When I was on my way to attend the convocation, I was flooded with memories of the time when I was a student,” he said.

The prime minister said he used to sit at the Oval and had played cricket there.



He said he had not forgotten the days when he sat with his friends on benches outside classrooms.

He said his teachers had been very kind to him.

“They helped me with the curriculum... they also groomed me,” he said.

The prime minister said he wished he could be a student again. He also recalled former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore and film star Dev Anand’s wish to visit the university.

According to the vice chancellor’s report, girls clinched top positions and secured medals in 15 of 26 disciplines at BA/BSc (Honours). Boys received more awards in co-curricular activities and sports.

As many as 19 students including Sana Zahoor, Muhammad Ajaib, Shahzad Sharif, Tauheeda Riaz, Haniya Azam, Samia Ashraf, Zaheer Ahmed, Sadia Arshad, Zia Bashir, Aftab Khan, Ammara Nosheen, Gul Rahmat and Awais Younus, Farah Deeba and Zeba Israr, Muhammad Hamid Ali, Sarah Khalid Butt, Hina Kanwal and Mian Humayun received doctorate degrees at the convocation.

Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar congratulated the new graduates and urged them to serve the nation.

He said the country would make progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He said getting the GSP Plus status was only possible because of the premier’s efforts.

The governor lauded Vice Chancellor Dr Khaleequr Rahman’s performance and said the university had grown rapidly under his supervision.

He said seven million children in Pakistan lacked access to education due to poverty. He urged the new graduates to use their education well and work for the underprivileged children.

The vice chancellor said Pakistan faced challenges like terrorism, intolerance, poverty, debt, unemployment, poor infrastructure, lawlessness and diseases.

He said all these problems could be solved with investment in education.

He said, “Unfortunately, Muslim countries spend only 0.46 per cent of their GDP on education.”

He praised the prime minister for increasing the budgetary allocation for education to four per cent of the GDP.

Rahman said despite financial constraints, the GCU had reduced fees of students by 35 per cent.

He said there had been no raise in their fees for the last three years.

He said Rs22 million had been distributed in scholarships through the university budget and GCU Endowment Fund. He said hostel fees had also been reduced by 50 per cent. The vice chancellor congratulated the new graduates and urged them to use their energies and talents in the service of the nation.

Later, the vice chancellor and the governor presented a memorial shield to the prime minister.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2014.