Degrees conferred upon 849 students at IBA Karachi Convocation

KARACHI: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi conferred degrees upon 849 graduates at its Convocation 2020 held at the Main Campus recently. The graduating batch included 585 undergraduate students from six programmes, 263 postgraduate students from eight programmes, and one PhD scholar. Convocation 2020 was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, says a press release.

Sindh Minister for Universities and Boards, Environment, Climate Change and Coastal Development Department Muhammad Ismail Rahu represented chief guest, Sindh Chief Minister and Patron IBA Murad Ali Shah. Veteran actor and recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz Zia Mohyeddin was guest of honour at the ceremony.

Executive Director IBA Karachi Dr S. Akbar Zaidi congratulated the students on their resilience towards completing their degrees amid the global pandemic.

Addressing the audience, Dr Zaidi expressed his happiness on the commemoration of an in-person convocation after two years and said, “I hope that you have learnt what it requires to be an IBA graduate and now is the time for you to take that world-class education and skillset forward into the world and further establish the IBA brand name”.

Dr Zaidi added that IBA had made huge transformations in the last two years with the establishment of three full-fledged, autonomous schools with independent deans. He said that it was a matter of great pride that being a public-sector university, IBA is usually considered a private-sector university as its educational standards were at par with those of private institutions.

Enumerating IBA’s transformation from a business school to a multidisciplinary institution, Dr Zaidi said that IBA now had 5,000 students as compared to 400 students 20 years ago. And now the institute teaches diverse subjects including history, sociology, anthropology and mathematics among others. He further said that the students, faculty and alumni would together take this journey of excellence to greater heights.

Zia Mohyeddin captivated the audience with his riveting recitals. He reminisced about his youthful days at the Government College and shed light on the famous short story ‘Maibal Aur Main’ by Ahmad Shah Patras Bukhari to resonate with the student life.

Sindh Minister Rahu commended the IBA’s initiative to observe the convocation in these unprecedented times and appreciated the standards in education sector set by IBA through its academic activities, following all SOPs, during Covid-19 and completing the academic year as per schedule.

He also said that the skillset which the graduates have acquired at the institute would help them navigate the intricacies of life.

He said, “With a legacy of more than six decades, the IBA has proven to be a hub of nurturing talents, benefiting not only Pakistan but the world at large. IBA’s vision of ensuring inclusivity and diversity, through its financial assistance programme through which the Institute supports approximately 30 percent of its students every year is remarkable.”