KARACHI: At the 30th convocation of Karachi University (KU) held on Saturday at the Valika Cricket Ground, girl students once again established their academic supremacy over their counterparts as they stood first in all faculties.

Overall, the university awarded 208 gold medals, most of which went to girl students. Appreciating their efforts, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, also the chancellor of public-sector universities, urged female students not to let their talent and professional excellence go wasted and serve society even if life took them to another path.

“I have been seeing this trend at other universities as well, which initially surprised me. Girl students are performing well and taking top positions in almost all faculties.

“We must acknowledge their hard work. But, what’s unfortunate is that society loses these bright students once they get married,” said the governor.

30th convocation of Karachi University held

This wasn’t just a personal loss, its Pakistan’s loss, he added.

The government, he said, spent a lot of money on education and expected students to serve the country once they finished their academic career.

Parents and society should also extend maximum support to working women, he said.

Speaking about the government’s efforts for the youth, the governor said many children wanted to go abroad after getting their graduation degree, which indicated their mistrust in country’s system.

“I want to tell you that this government has created a lot of opportunities for you in the shape of Ehsas and Kamyab Jawan programmes that would help you get scholarships and earn a decent livelihood.”

Also, he pointed out, it’s the first time that the World Bank had included Pakistan’s name in the list of 20 countries which would run 70 per cent economies of the world.

“There is no shortage of job opportunities in the country. You must believe in yourself and make the best use of opportunities available to you,” he said, while emphasising that youth should dream big and must realise their responsibility towards society and humanity.

Earlier, Prof Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, the acting Vice Chancellor of the KU, talked about the university’s achievements and said the international ranking of the university had significantly improved due to the hard work of faculty members.

He also referred to the international collaboration the university was trying to develop with other universities.

“The university has recently earned a commitment of 20 scholarships in different disciplines from universities in China. We have also charted out a four-year bachelor’s programme in the Chinese language, part of which would be conducted in China at the Sichuan Normal University,” he told the audience.

In addition, the university, he said, had signed MoUs with leading local industries and non-governmental organisations which would give maximum benefit to students and faculty members and would help achieve scientific excellence.

He requested the chancellor to look into the project of a hospital and medical college that the last government planned to do. “We hope that this project would be launched soon in the greater interest of the city and its people”.

‘Education never go waste’

More than 7,000 students received their degrees at the convocation in various disciplines, including 292 MPhil and 255 PhD students.

Sajida, a master’s student of the mathematics department, clinched two gold medals as the topper of the science faculty and the entire university.

“Mathematics has been my favourite subject since childhood mainly because it doesn’t involve rote learning. One just needs to be clear about the concepts,” she said, while acknowledging contribution of her teachers and family to her success.

Asked about her future plans, Sajida said she would take up teaching. “This is what I enjoy. But, my future plan is to apply for a scholarship in the US and settle there with my family,” she said.

About the ‘loss’ nation suffers when bright female students couldn’t utilise their professional training for some reasons after marriage, Farah Siddiqi, topper of the faculty of management and administrative sciences, said education never go wasted.

“This trend is not good. But, I think educated mothers tend to be better mothers,” she said, adding that she planned to take up teaching soon.

Speaking to Dawn, teachers said that girl students had increased significantly over the years and it’s not the first time that they topped in all faculties.

“I don’t have relevant data to confirm this but the trend of female students performing a lot better than their male counterparts has been consistent for some years,” said Dr Shakeel Farooqi, a senior KU teacher, adding that boys had more focused on departments which could help them get easy jobs.

Policy makers should look into this trend and see how this pattern was impacting the society.

“Not all students require a university degree. Unfo­rtunately, we are not paying attention to skill development, something much needed in society,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2019