HYDERABAD, Dec 28: Sindh Education Minister Dr Hamida Khuhro has praised the federal government for taking steps to improve the standard of education.

She was speaking at the seventh convocation of the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, on Tuesday. The Sindh governor was to preside over the convocation but he could not make it.

Dr Khuhro observed that the federal government was giving priority to the education sector and said that without education, development was impossible. She said attention was also being paid to promotion of information technology.

She praised the MUET for maintaining a high standard of education. She was happy to note that the university had got ISO-9000 certification. The minister congratulated the new graduates and advised them to fulfil their responsibilities by contributing towards eradication of social ills, producing innovative ideas for development of the country and, above all, serving the humanity.

In his welcome speech, university vice-chancellor Dr A. Q. K. Rajput claimed the university had produced the maximum number of PhDs in the field of engineering in the country.

He said the university had been selected for establishment of an institute of communication technology for which the federal government had allocated Rs189 million. He said the textile department of the university had been selected by the Messrs Rieter, Switzerland, as a training centre for yarn manufacturing industries.

Dr Rajput said the university had established a centralized instrumentation centre with diversified equipment and instruments to facilitate industries. He said the university had 45 PhDs which was the highest number in any technical university of the country.

Later, the minister awarded degrees to 246 graduates including, three PhDs and one MPhil. She also awarded gold medals to top faculty students and best graduates and silver medals and merit certificates to position holders.

LUMHS: The controller of examinations, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, has announced the results of third professional MBBS bi-annual examinations of 2004 of the university and its affiliated colleges.