PESHAWAR: Need for visionary people stressed: Governor’s address at PU convocation
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, Oct 30: Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has stressed the need for producing men and women of vision and integrity to meet the challenges facing the nation.
He was speaking as chief guest at the convocation of the University of Peshawar here on Thursday.
The governor said the solution to this problem did not lie in creating an educated elite rather we should create an educated society to fight the forces of ignorance, obscurantism and backwardness.
He said: “Change is the only aspect of human life which has permanence, otherwise obstinacy in adapting to changed environment will leave us marginalized and redundant.”
Describing the occasion as a proud day for the graduating students, their parents and teachers, the governor felicitated all the degree recipients and wished them every success in the future.
Expressing his pleasure over the multidimensional achievements of the university, the governor said it had cultivated a rich culture of academic excellence, attaining many successes in the fields of medical science, social sciences, humanities and engineering.
“The diversity and versatility of what this university has to offer are reflected by its products ranging from artists and hardcore pragmatists to dedicated men of science and visionary poets,” he observed.
“Its role in imparting quality education has been pivotal to the development of this region,” he said, adding that this university had been the sole provider of research facilities and higher learning for more than half century.
Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah expressed the hope that the recent efforts of the government to improve the higher education system in the country would enhance the existing potential of the universities.
He also appreciated the efforts of the administration to bring improvements in the over all working of the university, saying that the commitment of the administration to positive change augured well for its future.
Earlier, Vice Chancellor Dr Zulfiqar Hussain Gilani while presenting the annual report said that at present the strength of the university was 11,000 and it was playing a leading role in education in the province.
Keeping in view the modern needs of the age, he said, they also began a process of change through which different organizations and institutions were being re-grouped and restructured. The four-year private level course, he said, had already been approved by the academic council.
Earlier, the governor awarded PhD degrees to Rashid Khan, Dil Ara Begum and Amjad Sadeq in sociology, chemistry and geology, respectively, whereas Syed Ayaz Ali Shah got M. Phil degree in archaeology.
Gold medals were given to Shamim Majed (Arabic), Abidullah Jan (Islamiat), Khaliqa Zohra (Persian), Farhana Qazi (Urdu), M. Irfan Khan (Chemistry), Abdul Latif Khan (EBM), Muhammad Shafiq (Geography), Asif Mehmood (Geology), Nadia (Mathematics), Shumaila (Statistics), Subia Attaullah (Zoology), Sumaira Yousafzai (Zoology) and Umera Niazi (Physics).
