Improved ranking of varsities a mission: governor

LAHORE: The 131st Convocation of the Punjab University was held on Saturday in which 327 graduating students, including a Sikh, were awarded PhD degrees while 87 MS/MPhil, 76 Master’s and 67 undergraduate medals and 4 prizes/purse were also distributed among 189 students. A total of 1018 degrees and medals were distributed in the convocation presided over by the Punjab Governor/Chancellor Chaudhry Sarwar among the graduating students.

Addressing the ceremony, Governor Sarwar said that it was his prime mission as Chancellor to improve international ranking of the universities in Punjab and the graduating students of Punjab University must be proud of their institution as it had advanced its international ranking and was the best university in Pakistan. Punjab Senior Minister Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed, PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad, Pro VC Prof Dr M Saleem Mazhar, Registrar & Controller M Rauf Nawaz, Additional Controller Raja Shahid Javed, members of Senate, Syndicate, senior faculty members and a large number of graduates and their parents attended the event.

Ch Sarwar further said that it was a good omen that universities in Punjab were making their place in international ranking and especially PU VC, teachers and employees including sweepers deserved the credit for landmark improvement in QS ranking of international universities. He said that another important challenge for him was to make regular appointments on the designations of VC, registrar, controller, treasurer as in most of the universities, acting charge was assigned to various persons on these coveted posts when he became Governor. Now, he said, regular appointments had been made on these posts in most of the universities in Punjab. He advised the students that nothing was impossible and they could achieve their goals through hard work. He said that he himself studied in a school where there were no washrooms, no boundary wall and other basic facilities but he was elected the first Muslim Member of the British Parliament.

He appreciated the role of the VCs and PU VC in particular for their role in COVID 19 due to which the precious academic year of the students was saved. Congratulating the graduates, Mian Mahmood ur Rashid said that it was his honor that he had also been a student of PU in 1972, the time when polarization on campus was at its peak. Later, he said, the students unions were banned due to conflicts and the university had started losing its magnificence. However, he said, the university had gained its glory again in recent years and its progress at international level spoke the volume of academic achievements due to efforts of the VC and his team.