MULTAN: Around 7,000 students were awarded degrees at the Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) 14th convocation held at Jinnah Auditorium here on Tuesday.
As many as 52 Doctors of Philosophy (PhD) got their degrees in addition to 224 gold medalists from MA, MSc, M.Phil and BS students in the ceremony.
The students of sessions 2010-12 and 2011-13 for MA, MSc and M. Phil were bestowed with degrees along with Bachelors of Science (BS) students from the 2008-12 and 2009-13 sessions.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Governor Malik Rafiq Rajwana said that seeking education was the basic right of every citizen while providing educational opportunities was the liability of the state.
The governor, who is also the chancellor of BZU, informed that he was concerned about the quality of education of all the varsities and especially BZU.
Heaping praise on female students for receiving more positions as compared to male students, he urged parents to let their daughters work instead of making them sit at home.
Earlier, in his welcome address, BZU Vice-Chancellor Dr Tahir Amin highlighted the number of steps taken in the last two years under his administration. He informed that they had recruited 200 professors which makes up 25 per cent of the total faculty on merit.
A varsity has to play a crucial role in the social and economic sphere, the VC said adding that the BZU has been ranked among 300 top universities in Asia and he wanted it to rise further above to the ranks of top varsities of the world like Stanford and Howard in the future.
A large number of dignitaries, deans, chairmen, directors, parents and students attended the convocation.
