|
Fairness of KEMU exam system | Admission irregularities in MAO College
Fairness of KEMU exam system called into question
Lahore, May 06, 2008: A committee, constituted by the Punjab Health Department to review
implications of the King Edward Medical University sub-campus at Sahiwal, has
expressed serious reservations over the transparency of the examination system
conducted by the university.
The committee, during its meeting on April
28, pointed out irregularities in the KEMU examination system. Special Secretary
Health and Co-chairman of the Working Group for Health, Dr Shafqat Ranjha,
chaired the meeting while Working Group Convener Dr Amer Aziz, Fatima Jinnah
Medical College (FJMC) Principal Prof Dr Abdul Majeed Chaudhry, KEMU
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Awais, newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor
Prof Dr Zafarullah Khan, Paediatrics Department Head Prof Dr Ashraf Sultan,
Surgery Department Head Prof Dr Khalid Masood Gondal and Physiology Department
Head Prof Dr Muhammad Akram attended it. Punjab Food Minister Malik Nadeem
Kamran, who is PML-N MPA from Sahiwal district, especially attended the
meeting.
Sources said that Dr Amer Aziz drew the attention of
the participants towards the grave irregularities committed in the examination
system conducted by the university. As the committee reviewed implications of
setting up a KEMU sub-campus at Sahiwal, Dr Amer promptly rejected the proposal
and instead suggested an independent medical college at Sahiwal, citing a lack
of teaching staff on the KEMU main campus in Lahore. In this connection, he also
pointed out KEMU administration's failure to establish a fair and foolproof
examination system at the university while referring to Prof Dr Muhammad
Akram's, Dean Basic Medical Sciences, presentation to the Governor/Chancellor
about irregularities in the examination system.
Prof Dr Muhammad Akram,
Dean Basic Medical Sciences, and Chairman Board of Studies, KEMU, had presented
a detailed report of anomalies in results of the MBBS First Professional Annual
Examination 2007, to Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool in a meeting held at the
Governor's House last year. The report alleged the Examination Department had
manipulated the result of the MBBS First Professional Annual Examination 2007,
and it provided proof and evidence, according to which favouritism and
victimisation were found in the alleged revision of the result. Marks of some
students were deducted and extra marks had been awarded unfairly to some
students to help them pass the examination. Following the complaint, the
governor ordered an inquiry into alleged anomalies.
In response to Dr
Amer's remarks on the flawed examination system, KEMU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof
Dr Syed Muhammad Awais tried to hush up the matter in front of the high profile
committee by saying that the matter had been resolved during a reconciliation
meeting between KEMU authorities and Prof Muhammad Akram at the Governor's
House.
However, Prof Dr Muhammad Akram, the next day of the committee
meeting held on April 28, wrote a letter to Special Secretary Health and
Committee Chairman, Dr Shafqat Ranjha, former registrar of the KEMU, and proved
the veracity of Prof Amer's remarks on the examination system.
In his
letter, whose copy was also forwarded to Malik Nadeem Kamran, Punjab Food
Minister, Prof Dr Amer, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Prof Dr Zafarullah Khan, Professor
of Medicine, KEMU, Prof Dr Abdul Majeed Chaudhry, Principal, Fatima Jinnah
Medical College, Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Awais, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of KEMU, Prof
Dr Ashraf Sultan, Professor of Paediatrics, KEMU, Prof Dr Khalid Masood Gondal,
Professor of Surgery, KEMU, said, "The statement of Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof
Syed Muhammad Awais on irregularities of the examinations conducted by the KEMU
that a reconciliation meeting had held at the Governor's House is totally false
as no such meeting was held.
In fact, Prof Muhammad Awais was washing
his dirty linen in front of public representative Mr. Nadeem Kamran, Punjab Food
Minister, and other members of the committee. Prof Amer's remarks on the
examination system of the KEMU are correct. You are fully aware of all these
facts when you were registrar of the KEMU."
Admission irregularities in MAO College to be investigated
Lahore: The Punjab Higher Education Department has constituted a
two-member committee to investigate alleged irregularities in Government MAO
College's B Com admissions and incident of violence.
The committee has
been formed on the instructions of the Punjab chief secretary. The issue of
illegal admissions surfaced a couple of weeks ago when some students of the
Government MAO College staged a protest demonstration outside the Lahore Press
Club after the Punjab University (PU) refused to register them for annual
examinations. The Punjab University had denied registration to these students on
the pretext that the Government MAO College had granted admissions to more
students than the seats allocated to it for B Com programme. Reportedly, a
student group previously attached with the PML-Q manipulated admissions in MAO
College's B Com programme in violation of rules and regulations. College's
acting principal Prof Muhammad Khan had also leveled similar accusations. The
committee would submit its report within a week.
Applications invited for vacant slots at KEMU
Lahore: The newly-appointed Vice Chancellor of King Edward Medical
University, Lahore, Prof Dr Zafarullah Khan, has invited applications from
teaching faculty to fill posts lying vacant as a result of transfers or
termination of services under reversal of the orders of contractual
reemployments in the university.
The vacant posts included Registrar,
Controller of Examinations, Director Administration, Director Purchase and
Director Works here at the King Edward Medical University.
The post of
Registrar had been lying vacant after Dr Shafqat Ranjha was transferred and
posted as Special Secretary Health, Department of Health, Punjab, while services
of Col (retd) Masood-ul-Haq, Controller of Examinations having additional charge
of Director Administration, Habibullah Goraya, Director Works, and Taj Khattak,
Director Purchase, were terminated in compliance with reversal of orders of
contractual re-employment by the Punjab Government.
As stop gap
arrangement, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Syed Muhammad Awais handed over three
additional charges of Registrar, Director Administration and Director Purchase
to Principal Medical Officer (PMO) Dr Manzoor Alam.
Similarly,
Additional Principal Medical Officer (APMO) Community Medicine Department Dr
Akhtar Long was handed an additional charge of Controller of Examinations, while
Additional Principal Medical Officer (APMO) Pharmacology Department Dr Iftikhar
Mirza was given additional charge of Director Works of the
university.
The KEMU VC Prof Dr Zafarullah Khan called Academic Council
meeting on Tuesday (today), which besides its own agenda of newly-appointed VC's
first meeting with the faculty members of the university would also discuss the
matter of filling of vacant posts in the university.
Schoolteachers warn of complete boycott from 26th
Lahore: Government schoolteachers have warned of complete educational
boycott across the province from May 26 in case government fails to increase
their salaries and to ensure implementation of teachersí package announced by
the previous regime.
This announcement was made during a seminar
organized by the Punjab Teachers Union (PTU) held at the Lahore Press Club on
Monday. The seminar highlighted various problems faced by government
schoolteachers of the province.
Earlier speaking on the occasion various
representatives of the teaching community demanded 100 percent increase in
salaries and allowances in the wake of frequent inflation. PTU president
Jan-e-Alam Khan presided over the seminar while Qazi Abdul Rauf, Abdul Qayyum
Rahi, Muhammad Arshad, M Ishaq, Azam Butt, Rana Liaqat Ali, Aslam Ghumman, Rana
Ata, Rana Muhammad Arshad and president of Punjab Professors and Lecturers
Association (PPLA) Nazim Hussain Shah also spoke on the
occasion.
Speakers said they welcomed the new government adding but they
would not tolerate anti-teachers policies in any way demanding salaries of the
teachers should be increased in proportion of frequent price hike.
They
said teachers were leading miserable lives owing to meager salaries as compared
to frequent price hike adding government should address their problems on
priority basis. They also criticized the role of NGOs and monitoring cell.
Speaking on the occasion Jan-e-Alam Khan said all the governments had
done futile experimentations in the education sector adding there was no respect
for schoolteachers in the society. ìBecause of the frequent price hike they
(teachers) are compelled to lead a starving lifeî, he added.
PTU
president said previous government had announced a special package for teachers
but it was unfortunate the same was not being implemented in true spirit owing
to which teachers were disturb.
He said to address teachers problems was
need of the hour warning if relief was not provided to them by 24 May teachers
across the province would observe complete educational boycott from 26 May to 28
May while a protest demonstration would be staged outside the Lahore Press Club
on 29 May. After this a proper movement would be launched in which entire
teaching community would participate, he warned. The News
|
