Lahore School of Economics

Governor Punjab Lieutenant General (Retd) Khalid Maqbool who is also the Patron of Lahore School of Economics conferred degrees to successful students of the Bachelors and Masters programms at the Sixth Convocation of the Lahore School of Economics on November 20, 2006.

Addressing the convocation, General Khalid Maqbool highlighted the success of the Lahore School in terms of the Lahore School graduates’ performance in the corporate sector and the Lahore School’s innovations in advancement of higher education particularly in economics and business administration. He also said that the Pakistani government was spending more than rupees 22 billion per annum to promote higher education in Pakistan.

Earlier, Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, the Rector Lahore School of Economics presented his report and highlighted the progress made by the School since the last convocation. Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry said, “The Lahore School of Economics has managed in its short period of existence to establish itself as a high quality institution reputed for the excellence of its graduates in economics and business administration.”

The Rector said, “The Lahore School is currently graduating about 120 students a year from its MBA / MSc Programmes and another 200 from its BSc / BBA (Hons) Programmes. We expect this number to double in the next 2 yeas. The average MBA / MSc starting salary for the graduation class of 2005 was rupess 35,000/- per month and the bulk of our graduates were absorbed in banks, multinational companies and leading business concerns.”

Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry said, “Lahore School has focused its entire effort on building up its faculty and academic support facilities. Our permanent faculty has nearly doubled over the last year- with permanent teaching staff reaching above 100 faculty members. The total number of PhDs’ in the Faculty now number 20 and we are constantly looking for bright new faculty to add to our teaching resources. In order to strengthen the academic testing process the Lahore School has implemented the decisions taken at the Vice- Chancellors Meeting in summer 2006 that each graduating students present a final research project which will be examined by an external examiner. This will be effective from this Academic Year (2006-7). This research effort has been entrusted to our Centre for Research which now has 12 full time faculty including 7 PhD’s and its own academic block.”

Lahore School has added another 12 auditoriums at the Main Campus bringing total seating capacity to 1500 students at one time and more libraries that makes Lahore School’s Burki Campus a serious and pleasant academic environment.

“The Lahore School of Economics also has endeavored to strengthen its research capacity by holding an Annual Conference on the Management of the Pakistan Economy. Our first two conferences were a major success and the third conference on “second Generation Economic Reforms Sustaining Growth and Equitable Development” will be held on May 2-3, 2007. The Lahore School’s academic journal in Pakistan today- as judged by the Higher Education Commission – and we want to thank its Editors and Advisory Board for their excellent efforts in this regard. The Research Centre and the Lahore School’s entire Faculty will have their own research efforts strengthened by working with students on their final research projects,” added the Rector.

The governor was welcomed by M. A. K. Chaudhry, the Chairman Board of Governors, Lahore School of Economics. The Chairman said, “The Board of Governors has endeavored to make sure that the Lahore School’s Scholarship Progarmmes enable deserving students to study at the Lahore School and the School spends more than rupees two crores annually in scholarships to benefit 15 to 20 percent of its student body.

The convocation was attended by students their parents, faculty as well as academia at the Main Campus of Lahore School of Economics that is spread over 25 acre area.