LAHORE - The University of Management and Technology (UMT) organised its 17th annual convocation at its Johar Town campus on Monday.

On this occasion, 739 graduates were given degrees in various disciplines. According to a press release, 322 bachelor, 130 master, 283 MS/MPhil and four PhD degrees were conferred upon graduates and scholars on this occasion.  Furthermore, five patron’s gold medals, five rector’s silver medals, six rector’s Academic Excellence Awards gold medal, three certificates of excellence and a rector’s research recognition award were given away on the occasion.

Addressing to the gathering, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi congratulated UMT students and their parents for the hard-earned degrees. He congratulated the UMT president for preparing students for the future. “After arriving at the UMT I felt that Pakistan’s future is in safe hands,” he said. He said that UMT was like a precious stone and varsities like this should be established across Pakistan.

“After the incident of 27 February all countries and India have realised that this is really New Pakistan,” he said. He urged youngsters to work hard, as they were the future leaders of the country. He laid emphasis on how the youngsters needed to understand and recognise their roles for prosperity and wellbeing of the country.

739 graduates given degrees at 17th convocation of UMT

All those students who would be working in Pakistan should contribute to development and betterment of the country in every possible way, Qureshi said. He said the PTI was investing in human capital as this was the only key to development and prosperity.

Qureshi said that success of the PTI would not have been possible without overseas Pakistanis and educated youngsters of Pakistan who played a vital role in changing the political dynamics of the country. He laid emphasis on students and said that pace of technological advancement was changing the battles of today and tomorrow. He said that now battles would not be fought on battlefields, but they would be fought through minds of tech-savvy youngsters of the present times.

Welcoming the guest of honor, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, UMT/ILM President Ibrahim Hassan Murad said, “Mr Qureshi is a statesman of the highest honour and he played a pivotal role in restoring Pakistan’s prestige in the international arena as he not only fought the case of 200 million Pakistanis, but also represented two billion Muslims of the world globally.” Addressing the students he said, “Our future posed monumental challenges and now it was our turn to play a positive role. However, we are fortunate to be part of a country that is the land of splendour and it is our prime responsibility to initiate urgent actions.” He advised the students to work hard like the Quaid-e-Azam and engage in productive work, securing a role in the global arena on the foundation of their own cultural values and traditions. He advised students to never underestimate their abilities and understand that age was never a barrier to achieving success in life. He said, “Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) also emphasized the role of youngsters and appointed them to leading positions to inculcate the teachings that age was never an obstacle in achieving excellence in life. UMT is producing job creators rather than job seekers,” Ibrahim Hasan Murad said.

UMT Rector Dr Muhammad Aslam said the convocation was a very special day for graduates, parents and teachers and congratulated all students for the successful completion of an important era. He said the UMT pays a lot of attention on faculty and was home to 450+ teachers, out of which 150 were PhD holders. Not only this, UMT offers a wide variety of degree programmes that are accredited by their respective national accreditation councils, he added. Dr Aslam said UMT also focused on engaging the faculty and students in research work, and several national and international conferences were organized in UMT, with guest speakers hailing from US, UK, Australia, Turkey, China, and Sri Lanka. Rector of varsity also told that UMT has secured a place in the top 500 universities of Asia, according to the QS Asia ranking 2019, which highlighted how UMT was leading higher education with outstanding academic and research endeavours as well as achievements.

In his keynote address, UMT Chairman Dr Ahmad Omer Murad said that “the world in which we find ourselves today is different from the previous times. Every new day is unlike the day before. Today we have new opportunities, new challenges and new questions and what we thought impossible in the previous time is possible now.” He urged students to achieve success both in this world and hereafter.

He also advised the youth to be technology experts as this is the need of new era because through education we can bring positive change in our country.