317 graduates conferred degrees at AKU Convocation

Via - The News InternationalAs many as 317 graduates were conferred degrees at the 24th Convocation of the Aga Khan University (AKU) on Saturday.

Four students were awarded Doctor of Philosophy degrees, one in Education and three in Health Sciences. In addition to the four doctoral degrees, 313 other degrees were also conferred at the convocation.

The Institute for Educational Development (AKUH) awarded 40 degrees in Master of Education, 95 degrees in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, 10 degrees in Master of Science in the

fields of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Health Policy and Management and Clinical Research, while 19 degrees were awarded in Master of Bioethics.

Chief guest on the occasion, Dr Suraya Dalil, acting Minister of Public Health, Afghanistan, highlighted how the AKU has enabled its students and alumni to soar to the academic heights, setting the highest standards of professional excellence, which are internationally recognised.

“Not only has the AKU pioneered in the delivery of healthcare and education, but it has also built a synergy that has mutually reinforced education and health,” she said.

Dr Dalil pointed out there were six Afghan graduates at the convocation: two with Master of Education degrees and four with Bachelor of Science degrees.

She lauded the efforts of the government for facilitating her visit to Pakistan to attend the AKU convocation and said that the successful collaboration between the Aga Khan University in Pakistan and the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan was a clear example of how the two countries and two nations could work together.

President AKU Firoz Rasul asked the passing graduates that they were ambassadors of the AKU and asked them to work with professional zeal. Highlighting the AKU’s commitment to nurturing the leaders of the future, Firoz Rasul emphasised the need of professional competence and capacity to solve the problems that the university had ingrained in each of the graduates.

“A shifting global order, like the one we are witnessing today offers tremendous opportunities for you, as individual graduates, and for this region of South and Central Asia. Your ability to reap the benefits from these opportunities lies firmly in your willingness to invest time and energy to participate in building civil society institutions, governance systems and social structures so that stability can take root,” he added.

The event was attended by a large number of dignitaries.

Meanwhile, in the afternoon session, 149 students belonging to the School of Nursing were conferred degrees; these included 10 Master of Science, 29 Bachelor of Science, 50 Post-RN Bachelor of Science and 60 Diploma in General Nursing.

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