President Rouhani Attends the Opening Ceremony of New Academic Year 2013/2014 at TUMS and UT

The New Academic Year 2013/2014 began in Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) and University of Tehran (UT) by the attendance of Iran’s President, Dr. Hassan Rouhani, the Health Minister, Dr. Hassan Hashemi, and Caretaker of the Ministry of Science and a number of dignitaries from different organizations, members of Parliament, faculties and students  at Alameh Amini Congress Hall in UT on October 14, 2013.

Welcoming the revival of the good tradition of opening universities, Dr. Farhad Rahbar, UT Chancellor, said globalization and transnational thinking were the objectives of the educational system and higher education by its divine purposes was to provide earthly and heavenly health and well-being and intended to pioneer in international competitions by employing righteous people to gain its appropriate world position.

Rahbar underlined the restoration of the relationship between the state, the market and universities and added that higher education had a desirable quantitative growth  but it was time to get involved in qualitative growth concordant with spatial planing.

Hoping that the New Academic Year would bring about positive changes, Dr. Ali Jafarian, TUMS Chancellor, said President Rouhani’s participation in the opening ceremony underlined the importance of science and knowledge among the authorities and it was promising for moving faster in the realm of science.

Jafarian called Iran a center of excellence for medical services in the region and emphasized that the achievement in medical science in the country at great cost to be of benefit for the people in Iran. He also said that universities were the powerhouse of production and translation of knowledge and hope was the fruit of knowledge and trusting in God. He hoped God help people materialize their wishes in light of wisdom and hard work.

Dr. Jafar Towfighi, the caretaker for the Ministry of Science, said the main mission of universities were promoting the spirit of friendship, deepening rationality and building knowledge about the universe. He reminded that the Ministry of Science gave an inherent advantage to knowledgeable individuals or societies and believed that knowledgeable and capable men and women could build far better and more developed societies.

Saying that no decision could affect academic standing, Towfighi said honesty in dealing with others and understanding their rights were the fundamental principles of the Ministry. He added that the Ministry would try to work with the alumni of universities to entitle the society to the benefits of their inclusion.

Indicating that President Rouhani was an alumnus of the University of Tehran, Dr. Hassan Hashemi, the Health Minister, said it was worthy to go back to the academia with any excuses as universities were the place to share opinions or criticize them. He said in the contemporary world criticism has arisen from universities and meaningful dialogues are born. 

Saying that today everyone had to share his ideas, accept criticism and avoid biased opinions, Hashemi emphatically said that [deep] understanding of the society, state and the world was everybody’s mission. He added that self-esteem and national pride originate from self-awareness. He finally said if anyone loved his country, he would convert science to technology and wealth, both of which need great sacrifice.

The last to speak was President Rouhani, who said he felt a student of UT again and mentioned that universities were not to create knowledge only but they were to call for social and political responsibility in the past and present societies. He said it was impossible to achieve high academic positions while the professors could not express their ideas freely in the class.

Saying that the only group to take the blame was people who were creating knowledge indolently, Rouhani said one language was only accepted and that was the language of knowledge, wisdom and rationality. Therefore, he said, the Government would not bow to pressure groups and it would be a disgrace that professors and students could not express their opinions due to faultfinding by a small group of people.

The president said the tool for the development in the world was science and states borrowed their power from science. Undoubtedly, he said, universities and students should take on the responsibility for the economy and policy-making in the future and it was an honor that academics composed parts of the “Government of wisdom and hope” and they shouldered the responsibility.

Photo galleries 1, 2, 3 (Courtesy of IRNA), 4 (Courtesy of Fars News Agency),5 (Courtesy of Mehr), 6 (Courtesy of ISNA-1) and 7 (Courtesy of ISNA-2).