Saturday, June 18, 2016
Kabul (BNA) The Swiss UMEF University of Afghanistan held its first convocation of Master of Business Administration (MBA) here on Thursday.
Congratulating the 110 graduates, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in his message read-out by cultural advisor Asadullah Ghazanfar termed education as key to developments and stability.
“I hope the private higher education institutions with full responsibility lead high quality academic programs and put ending point to illiteracy in Afghanistan,” the president said in his message.
Inaugurating the event, professor Jawid Sangdel, the rector of UMEF university in Geneva of Swiss said that a nation would not turn to a real nation, if they don’t respect the pen, and a country sees no development, if the talented young generations to be ignored.
“I want to thank the president for initiating the infrastructural projects which are key to development of the country,” Prof. Sangdel said, asking the president to pay further attention for education and higher education systems in Afghanistan. Sangdel went on saying that Afghanistan facing leadership crisis rather than the economic one, asking the new graduates to be loyal on their commitments and serve their nation. He also criticized the Minister of Higher Education for neglecting the convocation ceremony, which was the first in its kind by a European university in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile Dr. Sayed Makhdoom Raheen, former Minister of Information and Culture and rector of Swiss UMEF University of Afghanistan said that it is immense pleasure to see Afghan youths being graduated from a prestigious European university in Afghanistan, adding that the country’s education and higher education were badly affected due to several years of war, hoping that the new graduates with modern academic background could serve their people and the country as whole.
Later, Henk Jan Bakker, the Ambassador of the Netherlands also delivered speech, asking the graduates no to flee from their country, but to stay and serve their nation. He also called on the graduates not to be satisfied for what they have learnt throughout the course, but further investigate and develop their capacities.
Praising the UMEF University of Afghanistan’s modern academic system and calling it one of the top universities in Afghanistan, Wolesi Jirga’s head of Education and Higher Education commission Homaira Ayoubi said that activity of international universities would further push the other higher education institutions in the country to develop their capacities, adding that UMEF could be an example for quality educations in Afghanistan. The ambassador of Tajikistan, deputy rector of Swiss Geneva University and two fresh graduates of MBA batch delivered their speeches on quality education of Swiss UMEF University in Afghanistan, asking the government to use the capacity of the new graduates in major development projects which lead the country towards peace and stability as well as regional convergence.
