In the name of God, the all Merciful, the all Compassionate
Ladies and Gentlemen
Esteemed Guests
Dear Faculty Members
Beloved Students
WE are very pleased today to hold the 35th graduation ceremony of our university as we set sail for another group of qualified, knowledge-loving graduates into a new stage in the ocean of life. Each one of these energetic graduates will be able to play a positive and active role in the creation of a civil society in which they are the main factor behind the creation of this society’s future.
As Salahaddin University, we are proud that in the course of 35 years of the university’s life we have been able to educate hundreds of thousands of individuals and equip with science, knowledge, and thought, to create a pool of talents for the making of thousands of high-ranking university professors and lecturers, and important figures in the realm of politics, science, knowledge, culture, and social work.
Therefore the lion’s share that our university gets from developing our society to a civil society is more than enough to make us proud of this university that gave birth to several other universities.
Today, our university works as resiliently as it did nearly half a century ago not allowing economic challenges, the war on terrorists, budget cuts by the central government, to affect its performance. We have always tried to pull the university out of the frame that restricts it to only academic responsibilities, in order to associate it with the patriotic and national processes that concern the future of our society. We have tried to work with the spirit of the Peshmerga. That same patriotic spirit with which teachers, students, and staff members overcome challenges and fuel the university to continue its giving so the progress of science and knowledge is not interrupted in this country. Obviously, this is the greatest resistance against the enemies of this country.
Moreover, our university has taken it upon its shoulders to host thousands of displaced Iraqi students from all components of this country be they Arabs, Yazidis, Christians, as well as Syrian refugees. Our university is helping the universities based in other cities affected by war, such as Mosul, Tikrit and Ramadi to make sure they continue the process of education. During these times, not only did we resist to the challenges in the way of progress, we also took the quality of education at our university to a desirable level. Today, Salahaddin University proudly comes at the top of the list of universities in Kurdistan region according to the new ranking system by the Ministry of Higher Education.
The patriotic spirit of our teaching staff is obvious in that despite the difficult economic situation in our region, they have admirably shouldered all the costs of attending international conferences even though they attended on university assignment. This year alone 25 delegations sent abroad to participate in the international conferences have been fully covered by the teachers. And all this was for the sake of keeping the academic progress and scientific research alive.
It is also worth mentioning that Salahaddin University has tried to find alternative funding for its conferences and forums through sponsorship from the respected companies who during these difficult times stood by our side as a patriotic duty in order to keep holding these scientific conferences regularly.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Salahaddin University is the largest in Kurdistan Region in terms of capacity, number of teaching staff and students. We now have 14 colleges, 85 academic departments, with a capacity of 25,062 students of which 11,542 are females, 13,520 are males. Only this year more than 5,000 of these students are graduating and chances are for the new academic year more than 5,000 new students will be admitted.
As regards educating higher education professionals, only this year Salahaddin University has 150 students graduating with Master’s degrees and 15 with PhD degrees, which are the biggest numbers in Kurdistan.
In addition to that we have tried to expand our higher education capacities through the Human Capacity Development Program (HCDP) – currently we have 150 PhD and 200 MA students abroad continuing their education.
For the new academic year, we have dedicated a resources and capacities to higher education; however, in line with the new regulations by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, our goal will be to take quality and quality assurance of higher education to the international level .
In light of the current circumstances in Kurdistan, we have tried to keep the relations with the international organizations and universities and so far we have had many joint projects including 8 projects with Erasmus, 50 projects with Lund University, 4 projects with DAAD, in addition to 5 Russian scholarships and 50 study permits. And this year, we will have 4 PhD graduates under the Split-Side program which is a new scientific experience in our university.
Another sign of keeping alive the progress of the university is the fact that our teaching staff keeps advancing in the field of higher education. From 1 September 2015 to date, 11 assistant professors have become full professors, 45 instructors were promoted to assistant professors and another 35 assistant instructors became instructors.
Furthermore, this year, the first group of 400 students will graduate with BA degrees in different disciplines from the evening education program, which our university had launched four years ago to create opportunities for students looking for specializing in teaching in the primary level.
It is a source of pride that Salahaddin University is the first university in Kurdistan to have off campus colleges and departments in areas outside the center of Erbil city, this includes colleges in Shaqlawa and Makhmour. This approach is geared towards developing other areas of Kurdistan and serving our communities in those areas, as well as setting the foundation for the inception of independent universities in those areas. A considerable number of students will graduate this year from those two colleges.
Ladies and gentlemen:
While we are doing our best to keep the academic level and performance of our university, we are also trying to have services provided to our teachers, staff members and students. One of the those achievements was obtaining the approval of His Excellency Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, to allow the registration of the housing units for university teachers in their names, as an acknowledgement of their scientific and academic efforts of those respected, resilient teachers.
And we are all looking forward to the end of this economic crisis so that long time and greatest dream comes true, which is the construction of Salahaddin University new Campus, the design of which is ready. We hope to start construction as soon as this crisis is over.
We are certain that before long the dark clouds over Kurdistan will be gone and we will be headed towards the silver lining, and the 100-year old dream of Kurds will come true. We will reap the produce of the sacrifices and struggle of our people for independence and freedom. Kurdistan will be the region in the part of Middle East area that’s the source of pride for the whole world, a bastion of peace and stability.
In the end: I would like to once again congratulate our enthusiastic students who will be at the forefront in the creation of a free Kurdistan.
I would like to commemorate the pure souls of our glorious martyrs who protected our borders with their own blood to allow us continue living in safety. I congratulate our teaching and administration staff whose volunteerism spirit did not allow them to give in to the difficult times, who overcame the challenges with a sense of patriotic, ethical responsibility.
I congratulate the families of the graduating students whose hope for the future of their children and the region was higher than their expectations.
Congratlations to the Peshmerga, all Kurds and Free Kurdistan
Assistant Professor Ahmed Anwer Dezaye
The President of Salahaddin University – Erbil
30 June 2016
Date :2th July 2016
