HYDERABAD: The University of Sindh (SU) handed out 755 Bachelors, Masters, MPhil and PhD degrees to graduates at its 2009 convocation on Sunday.
The acting governor of Sindh and the acting chancellor of SU, Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, presided over the convocation at the SU Allama II Kazi campus in Jamshoro, which was attended by a large number of graduating students, their parents, educationists, scholars and vice-chancellors of a number of public and private universities.
A total of 58 candidates received Bachelors and Masters degrees in Arts, 125 in Commerce and Business Administration, 12 in Education, 16 in Islamic Studies, six in Law, 327 in Natural Sciences, 54 in Pharmacy and 132 in Social Sciences. Meanwhile, 11 scholars received PhDs and two scholars received MPhil degrees.
Five candidates received special gold medals while 81 position holders received silver medals.
The graduates of SU are a source for pride for the province, said Khuhro, who lauded the efforts of the university “through many difficulties”, adding that it has developed due to its “continuous struggle for higher education”.
The students of the university as well as their parents can feel proud of their alma mater today, Khuhro said. He appreciated the achievements of the students, adding that only skilled and competent candidates will be able to survive in “today’s world of competition”.
Our country is facing an energy crisis as well as a shortage of food, said Khuhro, who added that, “We must benefit from the natural resources in Pakistan and educationists and scientists, especially young graduates, should dedicate their efforts to overcome these crises”.
He also stressed the need for specialised education, adding that higher education in Pakistan is not as costly as in other countries.
The government has taken steps to establish a Shaheed Benazir Bhutto chair and Convention Centre in SU, which will cost Rs130 million.
Khuhro said that the provincial government has also released funds for the construction of a hostel for postgraduates at the university and announced that from now on, a special medal - the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Memorial Gold Medal - will be awarded to a SU student every year for outstanding academic performance.
SU vice-chancellor Dr Nazir Mughal lauded Khuhro’s efforts for the establishment of the convention centre and also congratulated the graduates. “As you leave the university, you will be entering a world that has transitioned into a world of sophistication and an explosion in telecommunications and informatics,” said Mughal, adding that the digital revolution is likely to change the entire spectrum of life “with far-reaching implications, especially for developing countries”.
It has opened new avenues for sharing knowledge with developed countries “at a speed not known in the entire history of mankind”, the vice-chancellor continued.
“Unprecedented technological advances have led to dramatic changes in the way we live our lives and do our jobs, although even as I speak, none of us can understand exactly what or how far-reaching these changes will be in the next decade.”
Mughal said that the educators have been challenged with the responsibility of “charting our way along the turns of these unmarked roadways and gearing our thought towards finding the right ‘on ramp’, not only to teach people what was known yesterday but also to prepare them for what somebody might know tomorrow.”
There is a need to re-think what teaching and learning will become in the future. Students must educate themselves as the volume of information we assimilate grows, said Mughal, adding that the rate at which information is becoming obsolete is also growing.
“The population explosion has pushed us to open institutions of learning through ‘distance education’ and ‘online education’ to get degrees,” he went on to say.
“We, as educators, must equip students with the skills needed to adjust to rapid technology change, and, hopefully, enable them to contribute positively to that change.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2010.
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