From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: President Dr Arif Alvi said on Saturday that the nation had the potential to put the country on the path to prosperity and development.
While addressing the 31st Convocation of the University of Karachi here, he said that the country could be rehabilitated in five to ten years. He said that humanity is reaching the skies through science and technology these days.
Congratulating the graduating students and scholars, Dr Arif Alvi said that around two crore and 62 thousand children were out of school.
He said that the elite segment of society should come forward and play its role in bringing these children to the schools. Stressing the need for creating an environment of moral and ethical thinking and values, he said that education did not become only the base of morality and ethics. The president said that moral and ethical values were promoted by parents, teachers, and the environment of society.
He urged the graduating students to play a specific role in the promotion of moral values.
Speaking on Israeli brutalities in Gaza, he said that the intellectual battles had turned into western interests in the world. Dr Alvi said that he was emphasizing morality merely because, these days, educated people have committed more brutalities in the world.
He said that the circulation of video and audio clips on social media had created an environment of out-of-context conversations and stressed the need for learning communication skills to cope with these challenges.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, and Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi also addressed the convocation. The President, who is also the Chancellor of the public universities, put medals on the graduating students and scholars on the occasion.
Earlier, The President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday said that the prevention measures were needed of the hour to contain diseases in the country. While lauding the establishment of a blood bank at Indus Hospital and Health Network and its accreditation from the Association for Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB) in blood banking, he said that the milestone achievement would help prevent diseases with the help of safe blood transfusion.
Dr Arif Alvi, speaking at the accreditation celebration ceremony, said that there were multiple challenges the people were facing including malnutrition, obesity, mental health, and breast cancer. He said that the patients faced a shortage of safe blood in the country. He urged the donors to put in their efforts to further improve the situation in this regard. The President said that the people avoid donating their organs and this kind of culture has to be modified to go in that (right) direction. He said that the country had tremendous potential to rise. He advised doctors and health professionals to take part in politics for the best healthcare system. Dr Alvi said that the country performed well in the times of COVID and the Polio process.
It learned to collect data and information to meet challenges. Highlighting the issue of out-of-school children, he said that two crore and 62 thousand children, which came to 44 per cent, were not going to school.