KARACHI – The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi held its Convocation 2020 at the Main Campus to confer degrees to 849 graduates. The graduating batch included 585 undergraduate students from six programs, 263 postgraduate students from eight programs, and one PhD scholar. Convocation 2020 was postponed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Minister for Universities and Boards Department, Environment, Climate Change and Coastal Development Department, Mr. Muhammad Ismail Rahoo; represented Chief Guest, Chief Minister of Sindh and Patron IBA, Mr. Murad Ali Shah. Veteran actor and recipient of the Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Mr. Zia Mohyeddin graced the ceremony as Guest of Honour.
The Executive Director, IBA Karachi, Dr. S Akbar Zaidi congratulated the graduating students and commended 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 the IBA has made huge transformations in the last 2 years with the establishment of 3 full-fledged, autonomous schools with independent Deans. He said that it was a matter of great pride that being a public sector university, the IBA is usually considered a private sector university as its educational standards are at par with those of private institutions.
Enumerating IBA’s transformation from a business school to a multi-disciplinary Institution, Dr. Zaidi said that the IBA now has 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 journey of excellence at the IBA is continuous and together the students, faculty and alumni will take IBA to greater heights.
Mr. 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 of ‘Maibal Aur Main’ by Ahmad Shah Patras Bukhari to resonate with the student life.
Mr. Rahoo commended the IBA’s initiative to observe the convocation in these unprecedented times. He appreciated that the IBA set the standards in education sector by continuing its academic activities following all the SOPs during Covid-19 and completed the academic year as per schedule. He also said that the skillset which the graduates have acquired at the Institute will help them navigate the intricacies of life. He said that 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. He also commended IBA’s vision of ensuring inclusivity and diversity, through its financial assistance program through which the Institute supports approximately 30% of its student body every year.
The convocation ceremony featured the position holders in various degree programs who were awarded cash prizes, medals, shields and certificates of merit. Mahoor Shahzad, Olympian and IBA alumna, the first Pakistani badminton player in Tokyo Olympics Games 2020 was awarded with ‘Excellence in Sports’ award. Performance awards were given to staff and faculty members. The Assistant Professor and Chairperson Marketing Department, Dr. Farah Naz Baig received the Best Teacher award and Professor and Research Fellow-CBER, Dr. Wali ullah was declared the Best Researcher.
