Intermediate pre-medical exams result 2009

Inter pre-medical results: 114 colleges show dismal performance this year
Karachi, Aug 15: The pass percentage of as many as 114 colleges, including 69 government colleges, of the city in the Intermediate science (pre-medical) annual examinations-2009 remained below 30 per cent. The performance of 43 colleges - 29 government-run and 14 private - appeared to be so abysmal that their pass percentage was between 10 and zero.

A cursory look at the statistics of the results shows that not a single student of a large number of government and private colleges and higher secondary schools could get through the examination in A1 or A grade.

More than 15,500 candidates belonging to 192 (123 government-run and 69 private) colleges appeared in the examination conducted by the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK). Around 12,650 of the candidates were female and 3,319 male candidates.

Attributing the dismal performance to a shortage of teachers and overcrowding in the colleges' classrooms, officials of the provincial education department and senior professors maintained that one should not expect better performance from government colleges as long as these issues remained unresolved.

When the city's regional director (colleges), Prof Ms Munawwar Shafiq, was asked to comment, she said there were several factors behind the poor performance of government colleges but the major one was a shortage of teachers.

She was, however, reluctant to recount other factors.

President of the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association, Karachi chapter, Prof Ather Hussain Mirza mentioned a few which included overcrowding of classrooms, insufficient funds for undertaking experiments in laboratories and a decreasing number of academic days.

Giving a rough estimate, he said there was a shortage of around 1,300 to 1,400 teachers in government colleges of the city. Besides, he added, the existing SNE (sanctioned new establishment) of various colleges was approved long ago when the number of students per class used to be quite less than the current average of 120. "Although it is mandatory under the board's calendar that the ratio of students in a class should not be above 1:80, the condition is often overlooked as 120 students are being admitted to first-year classes in the city's government colleges for the last two years," he pointed out.

Prof Mirza observed that owing to the shortage of teachers neither teachers nor students could manage to complete the syllabus in an academic year.

In reply to a question, he said there was a shortage of English, Urdu, Physics and Chemistry teachers, besides those for different commerce subjects.

Describing the government colleges' laboratory funds as insufficient for experiments, he said that since the funds were released by the education department in two instalments (in June and December each year) the amount released in June often got lapsed, for colleges remained unable to invite tenders for chemicals and lab equipment by the end of the financial year.

Endorsing Prof Mirza's views, Karachi SPLA secretary Prof Iftikhar Azmi said there was also an acute shortage of teachers for social sciences, civics and general history in government colleges. He remarked that performance of government college students could not improve until the issue was resolved once and for all.

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Call to extend KU suppl exam forms date
Karachi: A large number of students who failed in bachelors of arts and commerce annual exams last year will not be able to sit in the supplementary exams next month, because the exam forms are unavailable at many colleges and the last date fixed for submission of the exam forms will expire today (Aug 15).

If the University of Karachi does not extend the forms' submission date, thousands of college students will remain deprived of a chance to clear their exams which are scheduled to begin in the middle of September.

Several students have complained that they visited the offices of their respective colleges to acquire the supplementary exam forms in vain. They claimed that every time they had to return disappointedly after administration officials told them that they had run out of the forms they brought from the university, while the university had not provided more forms despite the official request regarding that.

According to a rough estimate, over 24,748 regular students (18,771 BCom candidates and 5,977 BA candidates), who failed to clear their annual examinations-2008, are likely to appear in the forthcoming supplementary exams.

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Flag-hoisting ceremony held at KU
Karachi: A at the flag-hoisting ceremony was held at the campus of the University of Karachi (KU). The university's vice-chancellor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui said that Pakistan came into being after thousands of sacrifices. Addressing the crowd at the flag hoisting ceremony at the campus, he said that Quaid-e-Azam diverted the powers of Muslim nation towards the way of freedom, but after the independence this spirit declined, resulting in individual development instead of the nation's upbringing. "In the last few years, our nation consciously chose the path of unity and, with mutual integrity, brought in light the pros and cons of the society and tried to defy them.

This is an identity of living nations because the quality of good leadership is to make more leaders and not to make more followers," he said. The ceremony was organised by KU Registrar Prof Rais Alvi and KU Campus Advisor Dr Khalid Iraqi. Department heads and deans including Prof Shamsuddin, Prof D Abuzar Wajidi, Prof Saeed Akhtar Siddiqui, Prof Wassimuddin, and Prof Shahana Urooj Kazmi along with other teachers, staffers and a large number of students were present at the ceremony. ppi

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Colleges Admissions
Meanwhile, a number of candidates of the Secondary School Certificate (Part-II) annual examinations-2009, whose results were withheld by the Board of Secondary Education Karachi on account of incomplete documents or on charges of unfair means, complained that the board had not issued the result-sheets so far though they had filed the required documents and the board had cleared them of the charges after scrutiny.

They apprehended that they would not be able to get admissions as the last date fixed by the Centralised Admission Policy (CAP) committee for submission of admission forms would expire today (Aug 15).

The students urged the authorities to extend the deadline to facilitate their admissions. Dawn

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PAF Air War College graduation ceremony
Karachi: A graduation ceremony was held at PAF Air War College to award the certificates to the graduates of No 51 Senior Command and Staff Course. Air Marshal Waseem ud Din, Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Admin) was the Chief Guest.

The Chief Guest awarded the certificates and trophies to the graduating Airmen. Wing Commander Fawad Zahir was awarded the top graduate trophy for overall best performance. While addressing the graduating Airmen, the chief guest said, "PAF is in the phase of transformation and in coming years, technology-intensive platforms and weapons would be inducted.

To allow smooth influx of technology and its optimal utilisation, it is imperative that the PAF personnel are trained on modern lines. Therefore, efforts are being made in all the realms of training to educate the PAF personnel with sound intellectual capacities so that they could carry out their future tasks in an efficient manner. The induction of high-tech technology coupled with well-trained manpower will transform PAF into a very potent force, second to none".

Earlier, on his arrival at the Air War College, the Chief Guest was received by Commandant Air War College Air Vice Marshal Tubrez Asif.

PAF Air War College is the premier institution of Pakistan Air Force, where mid level officers of Pakistan Armed Forces and friendly countries are prepared for assumption of key Command & Staff appointments. The nation

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