Karachi University 'average' marks policy
Disrupted KU paper Confusion over 'average' marks
Karachi, Jan 21: Thousands of candidates of BCom part-I
(regular) annual examinations whose economics paper was disrupted on Jan
13 when they were forcibly ousted from their examination centres by
those protesting against Karachi University admissions policy are still
undecided whether to reappear in their paper rescheduled for Feb 1, or
to skip it merely to get 'average' marks under an impression that the
average marks mean passing marks. A large number of BCom
(part-I) and BA (part-I) regular male candidates who were taking their
economics and geography/mass communication papers, respectively, on Jan
13 at their examination centres set up at different departments of the
university were forced to flee their centres by some students protesting
against the university admissions policy. The protesting students snatched the candidates' papers and tore up their answer scripts after entering their exam centres. The
KU authorities while rescheduling the paper for Feb 1 had announced
that all the candidates of the affected centres could reappear in the
paper, or those who prefer not to retake their disrupted paper would be
given average marks as per university rules. However, a large
number of BCom (part-I) regular candidates called Dawn office from
different parts of the city and wanted to know whether the KU decision
of awarding average marks did mean that such candidates would be given
passing marks. However, when this question was put to a deputy
controller of examinations of the university, he dispelled the
impression that all those who would not reappear in their paper
rescheduled for Feb 1 would be given 'passing marks' in their respective
subject. Mentioning about the word 'average' marks used in the KU
press release issued on the day the paper was disrupted, the deputy
controller of examinations, who wished not to be named, said that
'average' marks meant that the candidates of the affected exam centres
who would opt not to reappear in their economics (part-I) paper
rescheduled for Feb 1, would be awarded average marks after evaluating
the marks they obtained in their other papers. "It all depends on
the marks they will be securing in their other papers once their answer
scripts are assessed and hence it cannot be said with any certainty
that all such candidates will either get passing marks or will be
declared failed in their economics [part-I] paper," he added. Admitting
that in haste the KU administration in its Jan 13 press release had
announced 'average' marks for those who would prefer not to retake their
disrupted paper on its rescheduled date without elaborating what it did
mean, he said that the matter concerning the average marks would be
considered at a meeting of the examinations department in a couple of
days and the candidates would be apprised of its decision in detail
through a press notification. Although Dawn also tried to contact
the KU controller of examinations to seek his version of the university
decision of awarding average marks to the students, the KU controller
did not respond to repeated calls made on his cellular phone. A
spokesperson for the university, however, endorsed the clarification
given by the university deputy controller of examinations vis-à-vis the
'average' marks.
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'Black day' at KU
Karachi: Karachi University teachers will observe a
black day on Saturday to express solidarity with the teachers of Sindh
University over the recent murder of their colleague Prof Bashir Ahmed
Channar. The Karachi University Teachers Society however
decided on Friday to wear black armbands as a mark of protest but not
to disrupt academic activities on the campus. Dawn
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Prof Qaiser likely to take over as KU VC
Karachi: The appointment of a new vice chancellor (VC) for the University of Karachi
(KU) has almost been finalised and a notification to this effect is
likely to be issued in the coming days. VC
Federal Urdu University for Arts, Science and Technology (FUUAST)
Professor Dr Muhammad Qaiser is being considered as the strongest
candidate to assume the charge of the key post of the government-run KU,
sources said. "Since Prof Qaiser is associated with a
federal university, he needs permission (No Objection Certificate) from
the president of Pakistan, who is also the chancellor of all
federally-run universities," the sources said. They added that the
FUUAST has not yet finalised the name of the person to replace him and
owing to these issues the name of the new VC of KU has not been notified
by the competent authority. Prof Qaiser has 43 years of
experience and at least 10 students have completed their PhD under his
supervision.He has also served KU as an acting vice chancellor on
various occasions. He remained the KU registrar from August 1999 to
August 2001 and January 2004 to July 2004. The second term of KU
VC Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqi ended in the first week of
January, following which the governor Sindh, who is also the chancellor
of the public-sector universities of the province, asked him to continue
the office till further orders. Dr Qaiser's name was recommended
by the VC Search Committee after it completed the interview process for
the said post. Born on August 15, 1946, Professor Qaiser completed his
PhD in 1976. Later, he joined Frei Universitat, Berlin, Germany, where
he completed his post-doctorate (1984 to 1985) and did 18 months'
research on the genus Phagnalon Cass - Compositae. In January
2008, he took the charge as FUUAST's VC when Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim
Raza Siddiqi left the post and became the VC of KU. Professor Qaiser
completed his MSc from KU in 1967 and later joined the university as an
assistant lecturer of Botany. He worked as a research officer at the
same department from 1969 to 71, and later served as lecturer from 1971
to 77. During 1979-82, he took leave from KU and went to
Al-Faateh University, Tripoli, Libya, to teach Botany as an assistant
professor. And from January 1983 to December 1985 he worked as an
assistant professor of Botany at the KU. In 1985, he was promoted
as a professor and served as the chairman Department of Botany, KU,
from October 2001 to 2004. Dr Qaiser also served as the dean of the
Science Faculty, KU, from May 2004 to August 2006. He has also
held the offices of Student Adviser, KU, from November 1996 to August
1999; Student Adviser, Department of Botany, KU, from 1990 to 1996; and
Provost, KU Boys Hostel, from August 1990 to September 1994. He was also
the Member Syndicate KU from August 2002 to August 2006. The news
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No classes in varsities on Monday afternoon
Hyderabad: The Sindh chapter of the Federation of All
Pakistan Universities Academic Staff Association has decided that
classes in all public sector universities in the province will remain
suspended after 12 noon on Monday to express solidarity with teachers of
the University of Sindh. However, a complete boycott of
classes would continue in Sindh University.The decision was taken at a
meeting presided over by the Sindh chapter's president Naimatullah
Leghari on Friday, which was also attended by representatives of the
teachers' bodies of other universities. The president of the Sindh
University Teachers Association, Dr Azhar Ali Shah said that over
200 teachers of the Sindh University observed a silent sit-in outside
the venue of the conference organised by the Sindh University in Karachi
on Friday. They were also joined by teachers of other universities and civil society organisations. Dr
Shah said that Naimatullah Leghari had received a message from the
Sindh governor's secretariat that he would meet the teachers' delegation
on Monday. Meanwhile, a meeting of FAPUSA would be held in Karachi on Thursday to discuss state of affairs in the Sindh University. Our
staff reporter adds from Karachi: The Karachi University Teachers
Society (Kuts) on Friday announced that it would observe a 'black day'
and wear black armbands to express solidarity with the teaching
fraternity of the Sindh University over the murder of Prof Channar.
However, it said, the academic activities on the campus would not be
disrupted on the day. Dawn
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KU announces MA (Previous) External Annual Exam result
Karachi: The University of Karachi (KU) examinations department on
Friday declared the result of MA Islamic Studies (Previous) External
Annual Examination 2010. As per statistics of the result, 1,123 students
were registered for the examination, 1,027 appeared while 524 were
declared passed, bringing the pass percentage to 51.02. Results of 30
candidates have been withheld due to objection by relevant authorities. Daily times
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KU body remains indecisive on accomodating
Karachi: As many as 100 candidates who are aspiring to gain admission to different
departments of the University of Karachi (KU) requested the Complaints
and Grievance Committee of the university on Thursday to redress their
grievances. A meeting of the committee was called to discuss the
cases submitted by the candidates. The committee was constituted on
January 4 by Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqi to
review admission-related problems. The last date for the submission of
applications was January 16. The KU administration had said on
January 16 that they had received around 25 applications, but on
Thursday they said there were over 100 individual complaints, and that
students had informed the university that though their names were
included in the final merit list they were still unable to submit their
admission fees. At least five applicants complained that they
were neglected during the admission process. They claimed that although
they had high percentages in their previous exams, they were neglected
by the administration because they did not take their exams from a
Karachi-based examination board. As per the KU rules and
regulations, priority is given to students who appear in exams conducted
by Karachi-based examination boards. If there are still vacant, the KU
considers applicants from all over Sindh. In case seats are still left
vacant in a particular department, candidates from other parts of the
country could take admission. If these conditions were not met,
applicants would not be considered during the admission process, said
Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi. When asked
how the number of applications rose from 25 to 100, she replied that
most of the students submitted their applications to different offices,
and that the exact figure only came to light during the committee
meeting. In a reply to a question, Kazmi said the director of the
admission committee would contact candidates whose names were mentioned
in the final merit list but they were unable to submit their fees. He
(the admission committee director) would also verify the status of the
incomplete applications and submit his report to the next meeting of the
committee, she further said. According to admission committee
director Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi, the committee will check the
availability of seats in departments, and if there were seats available,
then these students would be given admissions; otherwise, the decision
would be made by the committee. "We have received complaints in
which candidates claim that they could not submit their fees due to the
unavailability of the equivalence certificate or other documents, or
that they did not have money to submit their fees before the deadline,"
he said, adding that the committee had agreed to give another chance to
such candidates. Pro VC Kazmi is the convener of the committee,
while the dean of the Faculty of Management and Administrative
Sciences, Professor Dr Abu Zar Wajidi, Director Admission Committee
Iraqi and the students' adviser are its members. The news
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BIEK announces revised dates of HSC postponed papers
Karachi: The Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) Thursday
announced the revised dates of the postponed papers of HSC Supplementary
Examinations 2011 that were postponed due to various reasons. According
to the statement, the postponed paper of January 9 and 12 would be held
on January 21 and 23, respectively. However, other schedule and
instructions of the original date sheet would be unchanged. Daily times
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