Governor, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Barrister Masood Kausar has said that the promotion of education with special focus on making efficient and productive utilisation of the resources possible and with this fact in mind, he added, the government, is giving due priority to this sector. This reality, he added, can also be judged from the fact that there used to be only single university in Peshawar and now there are many institutions of that caliber in each division of the province.
He was addressing the Convocation-2012 of Malakand University at its premises at Chakdara on Thursday. In all 467 Bachelor and Masters Graduates 28 were honoured with gold medals for achieving distinctive position in their respective disciplines. The governor also inaugurated the newly constructed academic block at the campus. Provincial Minister for Livestock and Dairy Development, Hidayatullah Khan, Provincial Secretary Higher Education Mrs Farah Hamid Khan, Commissioner Malakand Division, other senior government officials and elite of the area also attended the ceremony while the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Dr Rasool Jan presenting the annual report highlighted the achievements and future development programmes.
Barrister Masood Kausar said, like elsewhere in the country, the Malakand division is also blessed by nature with rich natural and human resources and tremendous prospects for economic development and this university along with its other sister institutions has the great potential to contribute a lot in making this possible. In fact, the Governor said, life itself generates competitive atmosphere in society and when this natural phenomena is experienced at the national and international levels, then situation demands extra efforts to achieve excellence.
In this age of knowledge driven economy, he remarked there is a paradigm shift at the international scenario wherein the field of economy has got superseding role. "Nations are no longer considered powerful just because of their militant might alone, rather their attitudinal response towards others; their level of capabilities in various fields of life; the living environment and the facilities being offered to their coming generations for future development are also accounted equally, if not more important", he said.
Being conscious of the fact, the governor said, every possible effort is being made to equip our youth with the knowledge of desired standards. He also appreciated the University of Malakand for its progress especially improvement in its ranking both at the provincial and national levels; new additions in disciplines; increased number of PhD faculty members through fresh inductions and the infrastructure and research development of the university have indeed placed this institution has placed it at the status matching to one of the prestigious seats of higher learning in the country. With this growth rate, he remarked, the goals set by this institution for itself, do not seem difficult to be achieved" he said.
Pointing towards graduating students, the Governor who is also the chancellor of the university said, its now your responsibility to work hard; achieve excellence in your respective fields of higher studies; learn how to present your basic and transferable intellect in a best possible way'; keep your minds open to the new ideas; think innovatively; channelise your talents into positive and healthy activities and serve your country and the nation with highest degree of commitment.
Welcoming the Governor and the guests earlier, the Vice Chancellor Prof: Dr Rasool Jan said, that 18 new departments have been added during the past 3 years; taking the total strength to 28 and four more disciplines are in the offing. Similar is the case in respect of faculty development. Presently, he added, 47 faculty members are having PhD level students and 17 more PhD scholars are going join within next couple of months making the total strength to 64.
The university, he said, have been placed 21st in the national rankings while it has been judged 2nd amongst general universities from research development point of view. The four stories newly constructed academic block, he said, will accommodate 15 disciplines while the university also has in its credit of completing four mega projects; including two hostels one each for boys and girls; a most modern library and a gymnasium despite financial hardships.