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KU's admission policy provokes massive criticism
KARACHI, 8 Jan (The News): The new session of the University of Karachi began with the new faces
that have entered the seat of higher education to traverse on new educational
avenues, gain knowledge and get degrees to advance their career in a very
competitive environment.
The orientation classes for the BS (First Year)
were mostly lacklustre in most of the departments with a few exceptions. The
department of History and Sociology did fairly well with the newcomers to the
varsity. Nargis Rashid, Associate Professor and Chairperson of the department of
History, took meticulous care and organised a very successful orientation class
for the youngsters. She talked about history, its relevance to society and the
importance it deserved.
The students were reminded that they should be
proud of their chosen subject as it was the basis of all disciplines. Around 60
students have sought admission to the department and the second list is in the
offing that could increase the number of students.
Talking to the News in
her office, she lamented the absence of true spirit for teaching among the
teachers and wondered why this dangerous attitude had invaded the society. The
teachers, according to her, needed more determination and missionary zeal to
teach students because they were quite important segment of the
society.
The department of Sociology, Criminology and Population Sciences
had a lively orientation class with enthusiastic fresh arrivals absorbing the
information given to them by Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat, Chairman of the
department, with rapt attention. About 50-55 students were admitted to the BS
(First Year) class for regular session in Sociology while 75 students were
enrolled in the evening programme.
The Population Sciences attracted
about 52 students that include 12 medical graduates. The admission in the
Criminology will commence in the month of June/July, 2007. Dr Burfat was elated
that the Population Sciences course had attracted even the medical
graduates.
This reporter talked to the teachers, students and some
parents and asked them about their views on the recent admissions in the
university. A professor was furious that a public sector university was acting
like a money-minting machine. He deplored the fact that closing percentages in
different departments had huge disparity in the morning and evening
sessions.
Closing percentage in Applied Chemistry, morning programme was
72.45 while in the evening programme, it was 63.45, in English 76 and 46, in
Mass Communication 72 and 63.29, respectively, the few examples of disparity.
The message is: the education will become a domain of the affluent and powerful
segments of the society while the poor will be sidelined.
Mahmooda
Shahid, a mother of three grown-up children was nearly in tears when she was
asked about her opinion. "My two children are in colleges and my daughter had
applied for admission to Pharmacy Faculty but could not make the list of
successful candidates. She is eligible for the evening programme but I cannot
afford the fee".
Many such cases abound and even the many outspoken
professors, on condition of anonymity, ranted against the corporate practice
prevailing in the admission policy. "A teacher who is lethargic during morning
hours is expected to be active during the evening session. It is insane. The
insatiable desire for material gain will bring down the standard of education in
addition to depriving the less fortunate from acquiring the higher
education."
The current practice of creating two-tier system of education
in a public sector university that allows the students to gain admission to the
higher education institution by paying huge amount of money is deplorable. It
will leave a longlasting scar on the face of education. It is yet to be seen if
the practice is discontinued or it gains momentum to expand further as a
professor derided "Let us initiate a night programme that begins at 9:00pm and
culminates at 12:00 midnight".
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| Education News | | Updated: 08 Feb, 2012 |
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