Kathmandu, Dec 10: A total of 2,209 students were awarded degrees at the 31st (first phase) convocation ceremony of Kathmandu University (KU) held in Dhulikhel on Thursday. Among them, 196 were international students representing 17 countries.

According to KU Registrar Achyut Wagle, the graduates included:

• 83 from the School of Arts
• 294 from the School of Education
• 340 from the School of Engineering
• 36 from the School of Management
• 881 from the School of Medical Sciences
• 575 from the School of Science

Among the graduating students, 7 earned PhD, DM, or MCh degrees, 397 completed postgraduate programs, 50 received PGD, and 1,728 graduated at the bachelor’s level.

International graduates came from Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the UK, India, Japan, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Namibia, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the USA, and Vietnam—making up nearly 12% of the convocation.

Notable award winners include:

• Spenky Maite Castellano Menchacala (MA in Translation, Textual Interpretation & Philology) — Gold Medal for highest CGPA at the postgraduate level
• Gaurav Singh Saud (Nobel Medical College, Biratnagar) — Vice-Chancellor Gold Medal for MBBS
• Best MBA Student Award — Juddha Bahadur Shrestha Gold Medal
• Ran Bahadur Shah Gold Medal awarded to Dangal (MBA)

Education, Science and Technology Minister and KU Chancellor Mahabir Pun, along with Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Shantishree Dhulipudi, attended the ceremony.

With today’s graduating batch, the total number of KU graduates has reached 50,400, of which 5,860 are foreign students.