…Convocation is a landmark in the academic and professional life of a student – Vice-Chancellor
MUZAFFARABAD: The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) held its 19th Convocation at the King Abdullah Campus of the university on Thursday and awarded a total of over 1000 degrees to the graduates in various disciplines.
President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry who is also chancellor of the University was Chief Guest on the occasion and awarded Gold Medals to 49 distinctions holders.
The President conferred degrees to 25 Ph.D., 201 MPhils, and 774 M.A. /MSc, BS, B.Com, and LLB students.
In his address, President Sultan congratulated the students and their proud parents on the highest achievement of their life and encouraged them to move forward in their respective fields.
He said that it is truly a memorable occasion for the graduating students, their parents, and their teachers. It is also a memorable moment for the nation as another batch of professionally qualified people has been added to the national talent pool, he emphasized.
“This is a day of gratification for the parents of many of you; who invested their time, energy, and hard-earned money in educating you. In many cases, your parents might have sacrificed their personal happiness and pleasures to make sure that you get the best education that leads to your better future”, the President said.
The AJK President advised the student to prepare themselves for playing their role for the freedom and liberty of their brother and sisters living on the other side of the Line of Control and facing barbarism at the hands of occupation troops. He said that the enslaved people of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir are looking towards the youth in the liberated territory for the realization of their supreme struggle for freedom and liberty.
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Kaleeem Abbasi, Vice-Chancellor of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir University, on the occasion presented academic, research, and curricular and extracurricular facets of the past year in the Vice-Chancellor Report. He congratulated the successful graduates and appreciated dedicating efforts of university teachers to producing these young graduates and scholars, who are the pride and source of pleasure for their parents, the university, and the community.
Highlighting the significance of the event, he said convocation is a landmark in the academic and professional life of a student. It is not only the day of rewards in the form of degrees, distinctions, and honors but is also a day for starting a new journey to contribute to the nation and the coming generations.
Terming the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir as an academic nucleus in the state, which provides education in multidisciplinary academic domains, ranging from Engineering to Medical Sciences – and from Social to Basic and Applied Sciences is currently offering 86 degree programs in 29 disciplines under its four faculties. The student enrolment in the university has gone up to about nine thousand, which is a strong indicator of the services and competitive quality of education provided by it.
Sharing some brilliant successes and accomplishments, the Vice-Chancellor said that the construction of a new state-of-the-art King Abdullah campus at Chattar Klass with generous financial assistance from the Saudi government was a big leap forward.
He said that the acquiring 2.22 billion additional funds from the Saudi government and getting approval for a project worth Rs 400 million from HEC to provide the missing facilities in this new campus and enhancing the quality of education are some of the many milestones that university has achieved in the past couple of years.
Describing research as critical for better ranking of the university as well as national needs for local technology development and skilled human resource production, Mr. Abbasi said the progress of the university in research publications in the Year 2021-22 remained remarkable. The Total IF of the publications published in the year 2020 was 571 while the IF of the publications published in the Year 2021-22 jumped up to 944.696. A significant increasing trend in our research publications shows the commitment of the university, its faculty and students towards promoting research culture in the institution.
Earlier, an impressive academic procession led by Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor was conducted as a part of students’ graduation ceremony.
