The Vice Chancellor of University of Port Harcourt , Professor Ndowa
Lale said that about 9452 graduands of the University will receive
degrees in the University’s 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 convocation
slated for Friday and Saturday this week.
Professor Lale who disclosed this in Port Harcourt on Monday said
out of the number 106 students graduated with first class degree while
1755 students graduated with second class Upper Division while 2520
obtained second class lower division
He said that 4,681 graduates would receive Higher Degrees from school
of Graduate Studies from the two sessions saying that 381 out of the
number will be conferred with the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in
various disciplines .
He said 2971 graduates will receive Masters Degree while 1329 will
receive the postgraduate Diploma .
He said “for the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic sessions , a total
of 9,452 Graduands would be presented for the 32rd Convocation
ceremony of the University for the conferment of Higher Degree and
award of first Degree in various programs . Our record show that a
total of 4681 will receive Higher Degrees from the School of Graduates
Studies for the two sessions”
” Of the number , 381 will be conferred with Doctor of Philosophy
Degree in various specialisation , 2971 will receive the Masters
Degree , while 1,329 will recieve the postgraduate Diploma. Major
highlights of this years convocation ceremony is that 106 Graduands
will be awarded the First Class Honours Degree of the University in
various disciplines”
“This bountiful harvest has never been recorded before in the
University of Port Harcourt. In the Doctoral degree category , the
faculty of Humanities turned out 68, Social Science 60, Education 112,
Engineering 20, Management Science 14 , Science 95 and College of
Health Sciences 12″
“At the Masters Degree level , the Faculty of Humanities harvested a
total of 307 , Social Sciences 503, Education 604, Engineering 522 ,
College of Health Science 178 , Faculty Science 445, Management
Science 404 and Agriculture 8″
“The result also show that 68 students attained Distinction, 434 made
upper credit , 732 passed out with lower credit, while 95 got merit in
the postgraduate Diploma category for the two sessions.”
He said that the major part of the problem he faced on assumption of
office was anchored on his determination to do things in a different
way from the accustomed routine in the University .
He noted that one of the changes effected by his administration was
his insistence that lectures must commence on the first day of
resumption in each of new semester .
He said that the new policy faced some initial resistance by those he
said have vested interest in perpetuating the old way of doing things
saying that the students no longer enjoy the luxury of returning to
the University whenever it suited them.
“Today the process is on auto-pilot as students now promptly attend
lectures on the first day of resumption . We took the matter further
by persuading Senate to approve that only students who have attained
75% class attendance are eligible to write examinations in the
University”
“That policy too has caught on as lecturers now report full classrooms
during lectures. These are global best practices that bring respect to
universities all over the world and we cannot continue to operate in a
silo if we want to be part of the global community,” he said.
He commended President Buhari led Federal Government for supporting
and funding the drive for quality University education in the country.