Karachi University : Students taking classes on concrete floor
Students taking classes on concrete floor
Karachi, Apr 10: There was a time when many thousand years ago, students studied under the
shade of trees, sitting on the ground while teachers delivered lectures
in Taxila and Nalanda universities. Today, it seems that the wheels
have been turned back at the University of Karachi (KU). Students
of one KU class can be found sitting on the concrete floor at the
Department of Sociology listening to their English teacher's lecture –
because classrooms are not opened till 9 am. This is despite the
scheduled time for the first class of the morning being 8.30 am. They
do not suffer alone. There was also the case of the Institute of
Environmental Studies in the Faculty of Science, where students had no
other option but to attend their classes on the stairs at the main
entrance of the Institute, because the classrooms were locked. The practice has been going on unchecked at the universities, much to the detriment of the students. Meanwhile,
the chairperson and senior teachers of the Sociology Department seldom
come before 10 am despite living in the university's Staff Town,
located within the campus. They have conveniently scheduled their
classes after 10 am while the cooperative teachers take the first and
second periods of the day. The news
BL/LLM programmes enrolment
Karachi: The University of Karachi on Friday announced that
enrolment forms for BL/LLM programmes for the academic session 2009-10
will be accepted with a late fee of Rs1,000 from April 14 to 30. Ppi
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Lots of exam cheating cases go unreported
Karachi: Nineteen cheating cases were detected during the
secondary school certificate annual examinations in morning shift on
Friday. Earlier, two cases of impersonation during the exams in evening
shift were registered on Thursday. Interestingly, none of the
21 cases was reported to the Board of Secondary Education Karachi by
the superintendents of examination centres and 100 vigilance teams set
up to monitor the exams, and detect and register the cases of use of
unfair means by candidates. All these cases and most of those
previously detected were unearthed during surprise raids at various
exam centres by special vigilance teams constituted by the governor and
the board's chairman. A BSEK official said that the
superintendents at various exam centres and 100 vigilance teams were
not extending their cooperation to the board and the cases were being
underreported. He said the board had been receiving
complaints of rampant cheating since the beginning of the exams being
conducted at more than 400 centres across the city. Strangely enough,
neither the vigilance teams nor the centre superintendents reported as
many cheating cases as were detected by the special teams. He said over
300,000 candidates were taking the SSC annual exams, while the
invigilators and exam centre superintendents reported only a few cases
during the last many days. A board official requesting anonymity said that the authorities were concerned about the attitude of the invigilators.
The official said that the 100 vigilance teams, comprising senior
teachers and headmasters, during their visits to examination centres
were supposed to monitor the exams, detect and report the cases of use
of unfair means to the superintendent of the exam centre concerned. It
was mandatory upon centre superintendents to send the cases along with
the cheating material to the board the day they were detected, he
added. However, the few cases reported by the vigilance teams
and the centre superintendents amounted to encouraging the menace of
cheating in exams, he added. Dawn
New vigilance committee member
Karachi: Press Secretary to Sindh Governor, Wajahat has been appointed as the member
of the vigilance committee to monitor the Board of Secondary Education
Karachi (BSEK) exams. It was learnt on Friday that Wajahat
has replaced Public Relations Officer, Syed Irshad Ahmed Jilani, who
has been posted at the governor's secretariat. The replacement has
taken place through a notification issued from the Governor House.
19 students caught 'cheating' in exam
Karachi: The Chairman's Special Vigilance Team (CSVT) of the Board of Secondary
Education, Karachi (BSEK) booked 19 candidates for allegedly using
unfair means during the Sindhi paper on Friday. Spokesman of the BSEK
said in a press release that these 16 cases of cheating were reported
during the team's visit to the Government Boys Secondary School-No2,
Gul Muhammad Lane, Lyari Quarters. He said three other students were
booked for cheating from different examination centres. The spokesman
said that the team visited different examination centres on the
directive of Chairman BSEK Anzar Hussain Zaidi.
Ebad calls for streamlining BSEK affairs
Karachi: There should be least external contact at the Board of
Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) to discourage the cheating mafia, Dr
Ishrat-ul-Ebad Khan said on Friday. He was speaking to
journalists at the Governor House to discuss the incidents that
occurred during the ongoing Secondary School Certificate (SSC)
examinations. Chairman BSEK Anzar Hussain Zaidi was also present on the
occasion. The governor asked the BSEK chairman to highlight the
problems faced by the board office during the SSC examinations. The
governor directed the board authorities to reduce the number of
examination centres to 40 from 50 across the city from the next year in
order to help maintain proper vigilance. Dr Ebad said that he
had already floated the idea of constituting Sindh Education Commission
to the Chief Minister Sindh and Senior Education Minister. The
proposed commission would be meant to bring both primary and higher
education under one umbrella, which would also help reduce the gap
between different standards of education in Sindh, he added. The
governor directed the BSEK chairman to implement the ISO Standard at
the board office and also seek ISO certification to enhance the BSEK
standard. The governor directed BSEK chairman to take suggestions from
reputable boards and experienced educationists to streamline board
affairs and devise a suitable system.
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Shortage of textbooks vexes students, parents
Karachi: Shortage of new textbooks has left the parents and
students in a strife as the new academic session began earlier this
month. As a result, second-hand book vendors at Urdu Bazaar, the
largest book market in Karachi, are having a roaring business. Rehmat
Ameen, a parent, said he has visited the whole Urdu Bazaar but could
not find class VI textbooks for his son. A private publisher, who
prints Sindh Text Book Board books as outsourcing printer, said on
condition of anonymity that electricity loadshedding was behind the
inordinate delay in publishing of textbooks. He said the printing
process was under way and hopefully all textbooks would be available in
the market within the next few days. A wholesaler, Muhammad
Yousaf, said the Sindh Text Book Board granted allocation of books
after March 15 this year, four months late than the usual practice.
This is the main reason why books were not printed in time and there is
acute shortage of textbooks in market, he added. Another publisher said
the prices of textbooks had risen due to price hike in paper,
electricity and printing material. Bajwa a retailer of textbooks
said that retailers also have to face difficulties in selling books on
controlled rate because prices printed on textbooks and mentioned on
the price list provided by wholesalers were different. Citing an
example, he said the price printed on a textbook was Rs 36 but the
retailers had to pay Rs40 for it. In some cases, retail prices are not
printed on textbooks. Prices of textbooks published by private
publishers have also been raised substantially. The net losers are
parents and students who are studying in private schools, as they have
to purchase the expensive curriculum printed by private publishers.
Some private schools even force their students to purchase these books
directly from schools that charge 20-30 per cent more than the prices
printed on books. President of All Private Schools Management
Association, Sindh chapter, Khalid Shah, when contacted, said that the
government is responsible for the shortage of textbooks in the market.
To a question, he said it is immoral and illegal to compel students to
purchase course books from schools on higher rates. He said if he gets
such complaints against any private school, he would take stern action
against them. Kashif, a hawker of second-hand textbooks at Urdu
Bazaar, revealed that the sale of used books has increased by 70 per
cent as compared to last year, mainly due to sharp rise in the rates of
new textbooks. He said many white-collar families come here to purchase
second-hand books for their children. He said that he not only sells
used books but also purchases them from students, who sell or barter
them for books of their next higher class after passing the exam. General
Secretary Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) Professor
Iftikhar Azmi, when contacted, said that it was a responsibility of the
Education Department to provide textbooks in market in time and at
prescribed rates. He regretted that the Education Department has only
focused on 'political issues' instead of discharging its actual
responsibilities regarding betterment of education. The Sindh education
minister could not be contacted for comments despite several attempts.
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FUUAST declared MA Mass Com final year result
Karachi: The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST)
announced the result of MA Mass Communication final year 2009 on
Friday. As per varsity announcement, Ayesha Rasheed daughter of Abdul
Rasheed and Rasheed Majeed son of Majeed Khan secured first positions,
Muhammad Haris son of Muhammad Hanif stood second while Shehla Kanwal
daughter of Saleem Shah secured third position. The pass percentage
remained 90.90. The news
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