RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: As many as 591 undergraduate and postgraduate students of Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi, were awarded degrees at its 60th convocation held here on Sunday.

The Dean’s list consisting of top 5 per cent of students of BBA graduating class has 14 females out of 16.

Federal Minister for Planning & Development Ahsan Iqbal was the chief at the convocation ceremony held on the IBA’s main campus. It was largely attended by parents of fresh graduates and postgraduates, faculty members, prominent academicians and officials belonging to public and corporate sectors.

Felicitating the graduating students, Ahsan Iqbal urged them to remain committed to the values instilled in them by their institution. “You will now be entering a very complex world and remember that there is no shortcut in life, hard work is what makes life successful and meaningful,” he added.

Speaking high about the IBA, the minister said that the institution was conceived with the highest principles of excellence in modern education and hence “whatever walk of life you may pursue, you will find that a commitment to excellence, to justice and fair play, to hard work and team spirit will stand you in good stead”.

“Let your conduct and your words be worthy of the great traditions of your Institute to further strengthen its name and its image and bring honour to our country, Pakistan,” the minister advised the students.

Dean and Director IBA Dr Ishrat Hussain congratulated the graduating students and their parents on their successful achievement, saying they (students) must have found their journey in IBA fruitful in preparing them for their future careers.

He said that it has been heartening to witness the IBA’s transformation during the past six years. The idea was not to catapult IBA to the heights of glory, but to equip it with the expertise that an institution needs to constantly reinvent itself for countering the competitive academic world. The ground-work is set; now, the onus is on the future leaders to take IBA forward as the institution, still, has a long way to go, he added.

Shedding light on the ever-increasing student body at IBA, Dr Ishrat stated: ‘I am extremely proud of my student body – a reservoir of talent any world class Institution can feel proud of. In the academic year 2014-15, the total students’ strength rose by 15 per cent to 3,429 – up from 2,978 a year ago.

After fall 2015, we have already crossed the 3,600 mark, doubling of the students’ strength in six years, he said, adding that the proportion of full-time students has gone up from 78 to 83pc.

Elaborating, he said that with the expansion of three new programmes i.e. Economics and Mathematics, Accounting and Finance and Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, the undergraduate students now account for almost three-fourth of the student body and graduate students one-fourth. The gender composition of IBA students is almost 60:40 male to female and the majority of top positions are captured by the female students.

In his message to the graduating class, Dr Ishrat asked them that they should not be afraid of challenges and be prepared to take the good with the bad. IBA prepares its students well for the vicissitudes of practical life. The students, too, must continue to work consistently hard and prove their mettle to justify the pains taken and efforts made by their institute.

At the outset, he hoped that these young and bright minds will take not only the institution, but also the country towards the path of acceptance, tolerance and, civility.

This year’s best teacher’s award was bagged by Dr Sajjad Haider, Associate Professor, Faculty of Computer Science, best research award was clinched by Dr Wali Ullah, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics & Finance, while the title of the best student society of the year went to Dramatics Society’s patron Dr Framji Minwalla.