In a remarkable achievement, Qandeel Murtaza, the daughter of a tailor from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Haripur district, was awarded 17 gold medals for exceptional academic performance at the convocation of Khyber Girls Medical College in Peshawar. Her success drew widespread acclaim and highlighted the increasing accomplishments of women in Pakistan’s higher education sector.
As her name was announced, the audience responded with enthusiastic applause, and KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi personally presented the medals to her on stage. Qandeel’s family, despite facing financial hardships, has consistently prioritized education, which has evidently paid off.
Her father shared that education is a strong value in their household. Among his children, one daughter holds a grade-17 officer position at Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, another has earned a PhD and works in Islamabad, while his son has completed an engineering degree. Additionally, another daughter is currently enrolled in medical college.
Notably, two other students at the ceremony also received multiple awards: Muqaddas earned 10 gold medals, and Sabeen secured seven. These accomplishments have been widely praised on social media, where many users regard these students as role models for young women pursuing higher education in Pakistan.
In recent years, female enrollment in universities and professional colleges across Pakistan has steadily increased, especially in medical fields, where women now constitute a significant portion of graduates in numerous institutions.
