Aga Khan University Convocation
Karachi, Pakistan, 2 November 2002

Bismillah-Ir-Rahman-Ir-Rahim.

Your Excellency Mohammedmian Soomro, Governor of Sindh Province.
Chairman Saidullah Khan Dehlavi and members of the University’s Board of Trustees.
Honourable Ministers and Excellencies.
Donors from Pakistan and overseas.
Graduates and parents.
Members of the faculty.
Alumni of Aga Khan University.
Ladies and gentlemen.

Assalam-o-Alaikum.

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to this, the 15th Convocation ceremony of Aga Khan University.

Shamsh Kassim-Lakha, President, AKU, addressing the graduates, faculty, staff and guests at the 15th AKU Convocation Ceremony.

Governor Soomro, I thank you for joining us today as our Chief Guest. This is indeed a great honour because despite your very busy schedule, and especially in view of the current political discussions shaping our country, you have so kindly found time to grace this and other events on campus both yesterday and today. On behalf of the Chancellor, the Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees, I extend once again our deep appreciation for your presence and that of Begum Soomro.

Today we honour the achievements of 235 men and women who ... through hard work, dedication, perseverance and calling ... are ready to embark on the next stage of their chosen vocations.  For some it is the first step in their professional careers, for others the movement upwards to a new platform from which to conquer even greater challenges. 

All are embarked upon on a lifetime of learning and personal growth that will be limited only by their desire to serve, their will to succeed, their need to excel, and their courage to face all obstacles.

We also honour their parents and families, who should be rightfully proud of the achievements of their spouses, their daughters and sons, their sisters and brothers. Through their support ... their  encouragement ... and their example ... they have charted their graduates' course for the future. Now their graduates move on to fulfil their cherished ambitions and pursue their dreams.

And we honour the faculty of our University, in whose hands we placed the heavy responsibility of imparting knowledge and skills ... morals and values ... ethics and judgement, to their students.  On the faculty's  shoulders was the burden of developing, shaping and moulding the minds of these proud graduates who, Insha'Allah, will go on to become the future’s great healers and care givers ... great teachers ... and great researchers.

Graduates, parents, families and faculty, this is your day, and we share in your happiness.

This afternoon, 25 graduates from the Institute for Educational Development will receive their Masters degree in Education, many of whom are from government school systems in Pakistan and abroad to which many will return. 

Sixty-one graduates from the School of Nursing will receive their Nursing Diplomas, building on the success of the University's first academic programme established in 1980, while 58 graduates will receive their Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Two graduates from the Medical College will receive their Masters degrees in Epidemiology, a discipline that helps understand the causes, distribution and control of health problems in populations. Eight additional graduates will receive their Masters degrees in the joint disciplines of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Also from the Medical College, three graduates will be awarded Master of Science degrees in Health Policy and Management, the first to graduate from this programme.

And lastly, 78 graduates will receive their Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery designation ... the foundation of their careers as physicians in general practice, and in an array of medical disciplines and specialties.

Of the 235 graduates, 19 are from countries outside of Pakistan – from Afghanistan, Austria, Bangladesh, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates and Zanzibar.

All of today's graduates may take great pride that they entered the University based solely on merit.  They leave the University on the same basis.  No favours were extended to gain entry ... no concessions were given to secure passing grades.

And no meritorious student was denied entry for lack of funds.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in recognising the members of the graduating classes of 2002.

At the Convocation 2000 ceremony two years ago, the University’s Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, reflected on a list of new and impending developments in this still young institution.  He said that, “... AKU has become a genuinely national institution ... working with government on policy issues, and reaching out to become directly involved in upgrading the delivery of critical social services at the local and regional levels.”

Many new initiatives and expansions of existing activities continue to underscore the Chancellor’s view of AKU as a national institution.  AKU has been deeply involved in the establishment of the Tawana Pakistan Programme, a programme of education, service and research that will improve the nutrition and school attendance of half a million young girls in 5,000 schools, located in 32 poverty stricken districts throughout the country. 

A series of dialogues between policy makers and researchers from AKU Institute for Educational Development have identified issues surrounding the decentralisation of education, curriculum review and reform, and quality assurance. 

And members of the University played a leadership role in a government Task Force to determine ways to improve the quality of higher education in Pakistan. The outcome will be major reform of how universities will be funded, governed and evaluated, and the already-announced establishment of the Higher Education Commission. 

Great universities are recognised by the quality of their research, and their contributions to the generation of knowledge. While we cannot yet claim to be a great university, AKU’s increasing emphasis on research is beginning to yield noteworthy results. 

Our faculty is engaged in a broad range of clinical trials, and is examining the problems of diabetes, tuberculosis, infant malnutrition and birth related mortality and morbidity.  

An important collaboration with the University of Alabama at Birmingham involves research on maternal and peri-natal outcomes, and provides research training courses in Karachi and abroad for Pakistani health professionals wishing to advance their expertise in occupational and environmental health. 

In the School of Nursing, new research is being undertaken in a broad range of patient care areas, including the special care needed for first time chemotherapy subjects, the effects of therapeutic play among hospitalised children, and psychosocial aspects of post-partum depression in Pakistani women.

At the same time the Institute for Educational Development is engaged in important education research, examining the impact of teacher education programmes in school improvement, and the challenges of multi-grade teaching in rural schools. 

In his Convocation 2000 address, His Highness also made reference to AKU “ ... as a Pakistani institution with an international mandate, reaching out as an expression of Pakistan into the international community.”

Aga Khan University is an important component of Aga Khan Development Network, a group of private, non-denominational development agencies and institutions established by the Ismaili Imamat, that work in more than 20 countries of the developing world. The synergies of working with our AKDN partners have been an important factor in AKU realising its mandate to be an international university.

This year, Aga Khan University held its first graduation ceremony outside of Pakistan, awarding diplomas and degrees to nursing and teaching professionals in Uganda.  The success of programmes in that country led to the accreditation of similar programmes in Kenya and Tanzania where the first intake of students will begin classes this month.  

AKU will soon deliver postgraduate medical education in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, and Professional Development Centres for teacher education will be established in all three East African countries.

At the end of last year Aga Khan Development Network made available a $75 million grant to the government of Afghanistan for the rehabilitation of that war torn country, and as part of that effort teams of nursing and teacher education leaders from Aga Khan University are now helping to build the country’s capacity to restore quality health care and education. 

AKU is also involved in the planning of nurse and teacher education programmes elsewhere in Central Asia, as well as in Syria, where new initiatives will enhance the quality of existing programmes, and fill gaps where no such programmes currently exist.

Much of the internationalisation of AKU has been in the fields of nursing and teacher education, but the University’s campus established in London at the beginning of this year involves neither health nor education.  Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations has a unique mission.  This new Institute will not be a school of divinity or theology.  Rather it’s programmes will strengthen research and education for the purpose of enhancing knowledge and understanding of different Muslim civilisations, and the contributions Muslim scholars and scientists have made to contemporary society. 

In summary, I am pleased to say that AKU is now well established as an international institution, with seven teaching sites in six cities on three continents.

While the expansion of AKU internationally has presented exciting challenges, there is a new initiative here in Karachi that has fired the imagination of the entire AKU community.  Academic planning is now well underway for the establishment of a Faculty of Arts and Sciences, to be built on 550 acres of land purchased from the Government of Sindh.  A search is already underway for architects and planners for this new liberal arts facility which will attract gifted students from all over Pakistan and the surrounding region.  Its purpose will be to impart knowledge of the arts, the sciences, philosophy and economics, and to develop critical thinking and reasoning skills in young people who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

Recently the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees were pleased to learn that this land and surrounding areas have been earmarked for the development of an Education City by the Sindh Government.  Governor Soomro, the University is pleased to offer its assistance in the planning and evolution of this unique concept, so that this part of our province can become a centre of learning and advancement.

The expansion of AKU’s academic activities overseas has not been undertaken at the expense of our existing programmes.  You will be pleased to know that in Karachi several new academic initiatives are in planning, and new Hospital and infrastructure facilities are being constructed on this Stadium Road campus, with the support of donors from Pakistan and elsewhere in the world. 

Yesterday Governor Soomro inaugurated the  new, Rs.288 million Nazerali-Walji Building for Ambulatory Care, and dedicated three other donor-supported buildings that together will comprise a Rs. 390 million Women’s Residence. The Karimi Residence, the Noor Residence and the Arman Rupani Residence will provide attractive, comfortable accommodations for women professionals at AKU, within the secure confines of the University campus. 

Construction of the Khimji Building for Cardiac Care is at an advanced stage, and will open next year. 

Patient Welfare Programmes in the Hospital continue to expand. This year more than Rs. 260 million will be spent on quality care for the sick and needy.

Yes, our University is expanding rapidly in many areas and in many directions, but what do all of these developments mean for our graduates?

It means that you, the graduates, leave this University secure in the knowledge that your University and your credentials will be recognised in many parts of the world. You leave as graduates to contribute your education and your skills to the development of Pakistan, your native country, the many countries in which AKU serves, or elsewhere in the world in which your education and training will stand you in good stead.

But you have more to give than your education and your skills. No matter what your field of endeavour, or where you choose to practice your profession, be a role model to those around you.  Set new standards of honesty and decency. Adhere to the deeply-held values of our culture.  It was Al Kindi, the 9th Century philosopher, who said, “You accept knowledge because it teaches you values.”  In your years at this Institution, you have gained much knowledge, but ethics and values have also been at the forefront of your education. Whether implicitly or explicitly taught, the University has attempted to instil in you a code of moral conduct by which you should govern your life, your relationships and your interactions with your fellow human beings.  Hold fast to those high principles.  Be the person others look to for moral and ethical guidance. Let others find in you a source of help, inspiration and hope.

To all of the graduates assembled here today, and to their parents, families and friends, I offer my warmest congratulations. I pray that Almighty Allah bless you with success and immense barakat.

Shukriah.