HAVELIAN: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Higher Education and Pro-Chancellor Abbottabad University of Science and Technology (AUST) Kamran Khan Bangash Saturday said the performance of AUST was an inspiration for the 32 universities in the province, the establishment of Mining and Mineral Engineering departments at AUST will create employment opportunities.
He expressed these views while addressing the second convocation of AUST. On this occasion, he also distributed degrees among 700 students who have completed their education from 2017 to 2020 and medals among 50 students who showed outstanding performance.
Kamran Bangash said that with 55 Ph.D. doctors AUST has established itself as the top university in the province by publishing 320 research papers and we want AUST to play a leading role in affiliating other universities of the province with international universities to pave the way for making Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a highly educated province.
He said the provincial government of PTI established AUST as a university in the year 2015 as a cradle of knowledge and peace, this land has started producing highly educated youth to the province, country and international level.
The minister said that this year two major projects based on the construction of the University Admin Block, Girls Hostel, VC and Faculty Guest House would be completed. He said that today it’s a day of immense pleasure for all of us and I congratulate the parents of the graduate students from AUST.
He said that it was a demand of the people of Hazara to establish a university on which the provincial government of PTI founded the university of science and technology, this is the way in which the youth of Hazara is being enlightened with knowledge and the graduates will be a source of pride for the whole world.
Kamran Bangash said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education wants that our graduates to be self-employed instead of looking for jobs, the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan was to give leadership to the youth which would strengthen them.
Vice-Chancellor AUST, Prof. Dr. Tahir Irfan, described the University’s performance over a period of 20 months as exemplary. He said that AUST is the first university in the country which is providing education in Materials, Mines and Minerals engineering it would establish research and development and in addition to solving the problems faced by the industries and would provide higher education to the youth.
He said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a huge resource of minerals that can be utilized in the Hattar Industrial Estate to meet the needs of the country and provide employment opportunities.
The VC AUST said that the university is paying special attention to research along with education and management and for this purpose, a series of 2/3 year research programs have been started for which a huge amount of money has also been arranged. He said that (AUST) has entered into agreements with four Turkish universities to ensure accommodation, travel expenses and scholarships for its students.
In addition, the Department of Pharmacy has inked an agreement with the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, where students will be provided with significant facilities.
Dr. Tahir Irfan said that the Prime Minister has also given approval for setting up an olive farm in the university premises, the system of the university is being improved under modern reforms.
He said that after the second convocation, the number of graduated students has reached 3,000 those will have to keep in touch with the university to share their experiences.