Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Monday urged newly graduated students of the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) to ensure maximum utilisation of their merit and competence for the development of the country with utmost patriotism, honesty and sincerity.

She made the call while addressing the 18th graduation ceremony of MIST as the chief guest at Mirpur Cantonment in the city.

The minister urged all students to be empathetic to their parents, teachers and the common people of Bangladesh, said an ISPR release.

Congratulating all the graduates of 12 MIST departments, she emphasised on focusing on higher education through hard work to fulfill the dream of prosperous Bangladesh.

Dipu Moni also expressed the hope that the graduates will devote themselves to fulfilling the nation’s aspirations.

A total of 481 students completed their graduation this year. Of them, 418 were civil and 63 military students.

Maj Md Ziaul Islam off the Civil Engineering department was awarded Osmani Memorial Gold Medal for his outstanding academic performance.

Among others, Chief of Army Staff General Aziz Ahmed, Chief of Navel Staff Admiral Aurangzeb Chowdhury, Assistant Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal M Abul Bashar, Principal Staff Officer Lt Gen Md Mahfuzur Rahman, Prof Dr Jamilur Reza Choudhury, Abdullah Al Mahsin Choudhury, Maj Gen Md Emdad-Ul-Bari, Major General Md Wahid-Uz-Zaman were present on the occasion.