Lahore, February 28, 2022 (PPI-OT):Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar has 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 has advanced its international ranking and was the best university in Pakistan. He was addressing the 131st Convocation of Punjab University at Faisal Auditorium here on Saturday. Senior Provincial Minister Mian Mahmood ur Rasheed, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad, Pro VC Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, Registrar and Controller Muhammad Rauf Nawaz, Additional Controller Raja Shahid Javed, members of Senate, Syndicate, senior faculty members and a large number of graduates and their parents participated in the event.
Addressing the ceremony, Mr Sarwar 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 said that the practical life was not easy, however the students must remember that the success was not the wealth and designations they would achieve, rather serving humanity was the real success.
He said that the students must not forget their roots and must respect their parents. He appreciated the role of the vice chancellors 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 honour 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. In his address, PU VC Prof Niaz Ahmad said that the governor had assigned him the task to ensure good governance and improve the international ranking of the university. He said that to ensure good governance, for the first time in the last 40 years of Punjab University, all statutory bodies of the university had been made functional to ensure transparency.
He said the incumbent administration on Friday organized the 358th meeting of the Senate, which was the 8th consecutive meeting in less than four years as per requirement of the University Calendar while in the recent past, a gap of 8 to 10 years could be witnessed between the two meetings of the Senate. He said that in 2018, QS had ranked PU at 232nd position in Asian ranking of the universities and due to rigorous efforts of administration and teachers, PU had been declared 145th best university in Asia in 2021 among thousands of universities.
He said in 2018, PU was counted among top 78 percent universities and now in 2021, PU had performed among top 62 percent universities of the world, which was a great achievement as it was difficult to improve even one percent when one was competing at international level where all universities were making efforts to progress. He said that for the first time in 2018, PU’s three subjects were ranked at international level and now in 2021, Punjab University had become the only university in Pakistan whose 13 subjects had been ranked and in the subject of petroleum engineering, PU had been ranked among top 100-150 institutions in the world.
He said that for the first time, 460 research projects of the faculty members had been approved which would have positive socio-economic impact besides creation of new knowledge. He said that the university had given special attention to those research projects which aimed at solving socio-economic problems and contributed towards national development. He said that when he took charge as vice chancellor, he was told that the university could not be run on “merit”-based policy and without patronizing a group of teachers.
However, he said, the style of incumbent administration had failed these two theories. He said the merit had been implemented due to which the university had made progress at all levels and the elections of academic staff association were also a witness to the fact that the administration had no concern with any group and important offices of the university worked independently. He congratulated all the graduating students and their parents on their success.
For more information, contact:
Registrar,
University of the Punjab
Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan
Tel: +92-42-99231102
Fax: +92-42-99231103
E-Mail: registrar@pu.edu.pk
Website: http://pu.edu.pk/
