University of Health Sciences reassessed answer sheets
UHS passes three students in violation of rules
Lahore, March 30: The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has reassessed
answer sheets of three candidates of private medical/dental colleges
after declaration of results in sheer violation of varsity's
examination rules, orders of the Syndicate and judgment of the Supreme
Court. The UHS Examination Department has conducted reassessment
of answer sheets of three candidates i.e. Sabeen Zahid d/o Zahid
Hussain (MBBS 2nd Professional Supplementary Examination 2006 from
Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore), Hajra Shahid Khan d/o
Shahid Yousaf Khan (MBBS 1st Professional Part-I Annual Examination
2006 from Wah Medical College, Wah Cantt), and Ayesha Mansha d/o
Muhammad Mansha (BDS 1st Professional, Revised Scheme, Annual
Examination 2006 from FMH, College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore)
after declaration of results and passed them pass. The varsity by doing
so violated examination rules and Supreme Court ruling and also
discriminated against candidates who were not given a similar
opportunity. It also exposed a nexus of UHS and its affiliated private
medical/dental institutions working to manipulate results. The
UHS examination rules clearly state in Section 7 (vi): "The answer
books of a candidate in any examination of the University shall not be
reassessed after declaration of the result." Section 7 (i) says:
"After declaration of results, a candidate may apply to the Controller
of Examinations for rechecking of his/her results." (vii) Whereas
rechecking does not mean reassessment or re-evaluation of an answer
book, the controller of examinations or any officer authorized by him
or the Rechecking Committee approved by the vice-chancellor shall
satisfy that the result of the candidate has been correctly compiled
and declared." The UHS Syndicate, in its 13th meeting,
unanimously decided that before decoding, an 'audit' committee approved
by the VC and convened by controller of examinations may audit the
result and involve a convener of assessment, if deemed necessary, out
of the panel of senior professors recommended by Board of Studies. The
duties of convener of assessment will not be in contradiction to
examination regulations. Earlier, in compliance with the
judgment of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and in conformity with the
policy of PMDC and HEC, the syndicate in its 12th meeting and Board of
Governors in its 10th meeting decided to abolish the system of grace
marks or an increase in marks by any other name with effect from Annual
Examination 2006. Sources said that the UHS also
adopted a system of 'rechecking' or 'audit' of answer sheets, failing
by not more than three marks from benchmark to pass the subject, before
the declaration of results to rule out any discrepancies in the
compilation of results leaving no room, whatsoever, for any error or
mistake in compilation/counting of results/marks. However, after
declaration of results, a candidate may apply for rechecking or audit
to remove his/her doubts regarding compilation of results but certainly
not for reassessment of the answer sheet. The sources pointed
out another anomaly that these candidates had not moved their
applications for rechecking within 10 days as Section 7 (iv) says:
"Applications for rechecking shall be received in the office of the
controller of examinations not later than 10 days after the date of
declaration of the result of the examination." The rechecking of one
candidate's answer sheets was directly recommended by the
vice-chancellor. As for individual cases, Sabeen Zahid d/o Zahid
Hussain in MBBS 2nd Professional Supplementary Examination 2006 from
Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, Roll No 431, Fictitious No
1558 and Rechecking File No 1865, was awarded three extra numbers - one
each in questions 8, 9 and 15 in the subject of General Pathology
during reassessment after declaration of the result. In order of
events, the Rechecking Committee after Sabeen Zahid's application for
rechecking, declared that the candidate had failed after thorough
rechecking the answer sheet. Later, the UHS called Dr Fauzia Iqbal
Butt, Professor of Pathology, AIMC, Lahore, as Convener of Assessment
for an audit of answer sheet bearing Fictitious No 1558, but she also
declared in writing that "no question or part of question was found
unmarked. The standard of assessment of paper is satisfactory and the
marks given are correct. The total of marks is also correct." Afterwards,
the UHS appointed Dr Abdul Hannan Nagi, Professor of Pathology at LMDC,
Lahore, as convener of assessment but he again gave an all-clear report. After
failing in their attempts, the UHS thrashed out all candidates failing
by just three marks in the subject of General Pathology in an attempt
to clear the 'deserving candidate' bearing Fictitious No 1558 and
appointed Dr Maleeha Aslam, Professor of Pathology at AIMC, Lahore, as
convener of assessment. However, she also endorsed the results of the
21 candidates including the candidate with Fictitious No 1558. So much
so that she gave in writing that marking was towards the lenient side. However,
out of the 21 candidates, the candidate with Fictitious No 1558 was
lucky that the UHS Examination Department desperately took up the case
again and once again appointed Dr AH Nagi, Professor of Pathology at
LMDC, Lahore, as convener of assessment, who finally awarded three
marks - one each in Qs 8, 9 & 15 - on the basis that 'some parts of
these questions were left unmarked'. Dr AH Nagi is presently Professor
of Pathology at UHS, while another professor of LMDC was appointed as a
member of Board of Governors of UHS a few months ago. Following
this development, the Head of Rechecking Committee objected to the
change in marks of questions 8, 9 and 15, saying it amounted to
reassessment/re-evaluation which was against rules and regulations. However,
the controller of examinations, on the instructions of the
vice-chancellor, asked the professor concerned to clarify the
discrepancy between the statements in the script and the audit reports.
The professor concerned apologised for his earlier audit report and
presented the 'solution' that some portions of questions 8, 9 and 15
were left unmarked in the second audit report and awarded three marks,
which was accepted by the controller of examinations and approved by
the vice-chancellor. However, the assistant controller of
examinations (secrecy) wrote a letter, dated June 26, 2007, to LMDC
Principal with reference to rechecking application of Sabeen Zahid,
Roll No. 431, of MBBS 2nd Professional Supplementary Examination 2006,
conveying that Rechecking Committee checked the answer
books/records/practical awards and no discrepancies were found. Despite
this communication by the assistant controller of examinations
(secrecy), the UHS Examination Department issued a notification dated
August 7, 2007, declaring that the candidate Roll No 431 had passed. In
case of Hajra Shahid Khan d/o Shahid Yousaf Khan in MBBS 1st
Professional (Part-I) Annual Examination 2006, bearing Roll No 129,
Fictitious No 7124 and Rechecking File No 1554 from Wah Medical
College, Wah Cantt, the UHS Examination Department also awarded 1.5
marks in questions 1 and 2 in the subject of Anatomy to enhance the
existing 2.5 marks to total of 4 marks in post-result reassessment of
answer books. In yet another case of Ayesha Mansha d/o Muhammad
Mansha in BDS 1st Professional (Revised Scheme), Annual Examination
2006, Roll No 69, Fictitious No 808 and Rechecking File No 1452 from
FMH, College of Medicine and Dentistry, Lahore, the UHS Examination
Department also awarded one extra mark in questions 1 and 2 in Anatomy
to increase the existing 2 marks to total of 3 marks in post result
reassessment of answer books. In both these cases, the UHS
appointed Dr Mustansir Billah, Professor of Anatomy CMH/Lahore Medical
College, Lahore, as the convener of assessment, who prepared separate
award lists, instead of amending marks on Paper Assessors' award lists,
to increase the required number of marks. However, the controller of
examinations rejected the new award lists and himself amended the
original award lists. In original award list of candidate's
paper with Fictitious No 7124, prepared by Paper Assessor Dr Muhammad
Sohail, FPGMI/Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, the Controller of
Examinations added 1.5 marks to existing 2.5 marks in questions 1 and 2
to increase to a total of 4 marks required to pass in the said subject. In
original award list of candidate paper bearing Fictitious No 808,
prepared by Paper Assessor Dr Syed Tariq, Professor of Anatomy, Nishtar
Medical College, Multan, the controller of examinations added 1 mark to
existing 2 marks in questions 1 and 2 to increase to a total of 3 marks
required to pass in the said subject. The UHS, after conducting
reassessment, referred the case to Rechecking Committee, which then
'rectified' the mistake in final counting of marks and declared that
the candidates had passed the examinations. Later, the UHS Examination
Department issued notifications, dated February 27, 2007, declaring
that the candidates pass in their respective examinations. Sources
said that both these candidates, MBBS 1st Professional (Part-I) Annual
Examination 2006 and BDS 1st Professional (Revised Scheme), Annual
Examination 2006, had failed in their last chance to continue their
medical education, but the UHS Examination Department misused its
authority and arbitrarily passed them to carry on their medical
education. Courts had also rejected pleas of several
candidates, particularly failing by just 1 mark in their last chance in
First Professional BDS or MBBS (Part-I&II), to award required grace
mark(s) to promote to the next level of Second Professional BDS or MBBS
in order to continue their medical education. When contacted,
UHS Vice Chancellor Prof Hussain Mubashar Malik and Controller of
Examinations Dr Junaid Sarfraz were unavailable for comments. The news
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BISE secretary manhandles junior for 'answering cell phone'
Lahore: The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) secretary
recently beat up one of his juniors and threatened him with termination
from service in case he made the matter public, sources said. The sources said the BISE Employees' Union was,
surprisingly, supporting the secretary in the row. But another group of
employees is backing the junior employee – Naib Qasid Muhammad Naveed –
and said he was "targeted because of his active participation in recent
protests against the BISE chairman and secretary for not attending
office". 'Personal matter': The secretary, Mushtaq Ahmed
Tahir, has conceded that he beat up a junior employee. While he said
the "personal matter" had been "settled", the group supporting Naveed
rejected the claim, and said "tensions are still high at work". Education
Minster Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman said that an
investigation would be launched to determine if the secretary was
guilty, and action would be taken in line with the law. The sources
said Naveed was beaten up "on Friday for attending a call on his cell
phone while he was in the secretary's office". They said Naveed was in
the secretary's office for official work when a family member called
him. "Naveed only attended the call to tell the person at the other end
that he was in the secretary's office and couldn't talk ... but
Naveed's brief interlude irked the secretary," said the sources, adding
that Tahir initially slapped Naveed and then started beating him up.
"Nobody stepped forward to rescue Naveed, who had started crying." They
said the naib qasid was "injured", and had to be taken to Ganga Ram
Hospital. Tahir later warned Naveed that he would be terminated from
service "in case you make the matter public". According to
some BISE officials, "Tahir has close links with high-ups in the Punjab
government ... he was just appointed to work as a representative at the
board". A number of BISE officials claimed the secretary's chief
responsibility was to "organise the Punjab chief minister's essay
writing, debates and sports competitions". They said Tahir could be
"rarely found in office ... employees and students are suffering as a
result". They called on the Punjab government to take notice of the
secretary's misbehaviour with Naveed. The sources said the
BISE Employees Welfare Union had also refrained from highlighting the
matter because of the secretary's "pressure". However, the president of
the union said, "It's not a minor issue." BISE Public Relations Officer
Qaiser Virk said that he was unaware if the naib qasid had been
manhandled. Daily times
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19 cheats booked
Lahore: Nineteen unfair means cases (UMCs) have been registered by Board of Intermediate
& Secondary Education (BISE) Lahore authorities on last day of
matriculation (Class 10) annual examination 2010, which concluded on
Monday. A press statement said that Class 9 annual exam 2010 will
commence from 30 March, Tuesday (today) in which almost 230,000
candidates would appear from BISE Lahore alone. Two candidates were
arrested for impersonation in the exam during the paper of Pakistan
Studies.
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'GCU disbursed Rs 11m among needy students'
Lahore: The Government College University (GCU) has disbursed Rs
11 million among the needy students during the ongoing financial year
besides giving them concession in academic charges. According to
a press statement, this was stated by GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr
Khalid Aftab while talking to a delegation of the National School of
Public Policy (NSPP) comprising the participants of the 92nd National
Management Course. The delegation's visit was aimed at discussing and
learning about the policies and their implementation at the GCU. The
VC told the delegates that there was a need to do a lot more for the
needy students so that they could continue their education without
mental stress. "The university status gave us an opportunity to revamp
our education system, curriculum and open new doors for development,"
he added. Later, GCU Academic Planning and External Links
Director Ms Fouzia Shaheen briefed the delegates about the recent
achievements and development projects of the university. The delegates
also visited the high tension laboratories at the GCU Centre for
Advanced Studies in Physics.
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UVAS festival
Lahore: The University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Student Services
Council began its "Student Week" with Qira'at and Na'at competitions on
Monday. According to a press statement, in the Qira'at competition,
Hafiz Naeem ul Hasan stood first, while Hafiz Muhammad Qasim and Hafiz
Sarfraz secured second and third positions respectively. The news
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Call for a new medical college
Lahore: The faculty of the Postgraduate Medical Institute at
the Lahore General Hospital has called upon Chief Minister Shahbaz
Sharif to establish a new medical college to overcome shortage of
doctors. The demand was raised in a unanimous resolution
passed at a meeting of the institute's academic council here on Sunday.
The resolution states that facilities of the institute can be used for
setting up a new medical college and it does not need a big financial
assistance. The members of the council said they hoped that a
new medical college would provide an opportunity to intelligent
middleclass students to get medical education. On this
occasion, institute principal Prof Dr Tariq Salahuddin urged the
faculty members to use their energies in research on new diseases and
their diagnosis. He said doctors from all parts of the country and
abroad were studying at the institute. App
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