On Saturday, December 6th 2014, the University of Zakho celebrated its 4th Commencement Ceremony for the academic year 2013/ 2014 at the Sports Hall of the university. The ceremony was guided under the slogan “Giving Value to Education is a Driving Force for the Resistance and Victory of the Kurdish Peshmerga Forces”.

With the presence of the Governor of Duhok, Mr. Farhad Atrushi, along with a large number of regional governmental authorities, party authorities, and parliamentarians, the President of the University of Zakho, Asst. Prof. Dr. Lazgin Abdi Jamil, opened the ceremony with an impressive speech in which he focused on previous achievements and future projects of the University of Zakho. Furthermore, Asst. Prof. Dr. Lazgin Abdi Jamil expressed, on behalf of the University Council, his deepest sympathy and sincere feeling of solidarity towards the Kurdish Peshmerga Forces.

In its 4th Commencement Ceremony, the university honored 522 graduates from all departments with Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts Degrees. Attaching importance to postgraduate studies in the academic year 2013/ 2014, the University of Zakho awarded 17 graduates with Doctoral Degrees and 70 graduates with Masters Degrees. In this context, it was noted that about 50 postgraduate students, who belong to the University of Zakho, are still in process of their studies at universities in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, or abroad. Aiming at giving a brief overview of the development process of the University of Zakho to the attending guests, Asst. Prof. Dr. Lazgin Abdi Jamil described the structure of the university. It was indicated that the University of Zakho comprises of the Faculty of Science, which is divided into two schools with six departments, the Faculty of Humanities, which is divided into three schools, and the Faculty of Engineering, which is divided into one school. Furthermore, the President of the University of Zakho commended the expansion process of the university by relying on three decrees of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. As a result, the University Council of Zakho announced for the academic year 2014/ 2015 the establishment of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Physical Education, and Departments of Basic Education for primary school teachers, who belong to the Ministry of Education, for the specifications of Sciences, Mathematics, Kurdish Language, Arabic Language, English Language, and Sociology.

The ceremony was an exciting occasion, with graduates, faculty representatives and the members of the University Council participating in academic regalia. The degree candidates were seated in chairs on the sports hall echelons, grouped by their respective departments. The ceremony was accompanied by a number of speeches by the members of the University Council and the Students Representative. Finally, the degrees were conferred to the graduates.