President Abdul Hamid on Saturday asked the authorities of private universities to increase numbers of scholarships so that poor but meritorious students can also get access to higher education side by side students from well-off families.
“I urge all concerned to consider the issue so that not only children of rich families but also that of poor families can get scope for acquiring university education,” he said while presiding over the 2nd convocation of University of Information Technology and Sciences (UITS) at Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the city.
The convocation added a new look as former Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad, who is widely called as the architect of modern Malaysia, spoke as the convocation speaker. President Abdul Hamid expressed his gratitude to the Malaysian former prime minister to visit Bangladesh. “On behalf of the University and on my own behalf I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to you (Mahathir) for honoring us with your kind presence and delivering convocation speech at this august gathering. I believe it is your personal touch and trust to the people of Bangladesh,” he said. Nearly 6,000 students were conferred graduate and post-graduate degrees from different disciplines while six students received gold medals for their outstanding academic results. Terming the graduate as higher human resources of the country, President Abdul Hamid told the new graduates “Keep in mind that country as well state has helped you to reach at this level. So you have debt to the country and the nation. If you are able to serve the nation through your acquired knowledge and merit, that debt will be paid to some extent.” Education is the first stair to build a nation, the President said adding, “Education doesn’t mean only economic and social development, it also means developing students intellectually with non-communal spirit, and above all awakening deep patriotism.”
The President, who is also chancellor of all the country’s universities said quality of education is the demand of time. Academic curriculum needs to conduct considering the demand of job market.
The President stressed the need for combining joy with education saying that affection for people, humanity, culture, tradition, and knowledge and technology-based techniques must be infused in education.
“We need such education that can create creative and enlightened people, not the certificate-oriented education or the kind of education which rely on reading of textbooks and memorizing guide books,” he said.
