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Hamdard University convocation Tarar urges private sector to help spread

education, literacy

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: President Rafiq Tarar said on Tuesday education is the most serious national concern for the future of Pakistan and even if the private and the public sectors pool their efforts for its spread, it would be not possible to easily overcome this formidabile task.

Tarar was delivering his presidential address at the fourth annual convocation of Hamdard University held at Madinat-ul-Hikmat.

The president said he was referring to the formidability of the task only to indicate the magnitude of the problem the country was confronted with and to further underscore the need for the private effort and contribution required for the promotion of literacy and spread of education in the country.

He paid glowing tributes to the late Hakim Mohammed Said for his contribution towards education and said that he was among those who wanted such private efforts to expand and bring about harmony between the public and the private efforts. He was one of those who would extend all assistance for the promotion of education and for sustaining it on more stable grounds.

He appealed to the philanthropists and welfare minded individuals to come forward and help such institutions and, if possible launch their own schemes of social welfare and education.

Tarar said Hakim Said had dedicated his life to serve Pakistan and its people. The legacy he has left can be seen in two dimensions; the physical and the ideological. "This splendid campus spread on 400 acres of land represents the physical panorama in addition to teams of motivated workers, research scholars, teachers and students who actually make it a bustling human settlement and a living place."

He said the ideological aspect of the legacy, though concerns the nation as a whole, has direct bearing on you who are working in this institution either as teachers and workers or as students.

"The vision you have inherited will keep you inspired and will make your personal work and the work of the university more meaningful to you individually and to the country as a whole. You are not simply working or studying here, but are carrying out a mission with which the future of our nation is tied up," he added.

Addressing the passing out students, he said: "In a country like yours which is infested with problems of impoverishment, deprivation and illiteracy you have much more to give than to receive from the university."

He asked the students to stick to the advice of their teachers and made that a part of their life.

Earlier, the president conferred the degree of Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) on Dr. Abdul Rahman Abdullah Al-Awadi, president, Islamic Organisation for Medical Sciences, Kuwait, for his distinguished career in public health planning, in protection of world environment and particularly in the promotion of Islamic science and medicine.

Vice Chancellor of Hamdard University Dr. Manzoor Ahmed, and Chancellor former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Mr. Justice Ajmal Mian also spoke on the occasion. Sindh Governor Azim Daudpota was also present.