KU Sindhi Department lecturers selection
Red faces as KU postpones recruitment test
Karachi, May 25: A hurriedly-organised written test for the recruitment
of lecturers for the Sindhi department of Karachi University was
postponed at the last minute on Monday following the intervention of
Karachi University Teachers' Society, causing resentment among the few
candidates who had turned up on short notice. The university
administration postponed the paper just before it started on Monday on
the insistence of Kuts members who said that the urgency shown in
calling candidates and last-minute changes in the schedule of tests had
rendered the selection process subjective. According to the
sources, the administration had in fact scheduled the tests and
interviews for Persian, mass communication and commerce departments
from May 24. However, changes were made last Friday (May 21) when call
letters were sent to Sindhi department candidates instead of commerce
department candidates. After the Monday test, interviews with the
selected candidates were planned for Tuesday, just a day before the
dean of the faculty of arts, Prof Saleem Memon, was due to retire. Although nothing was stated officially then about the reason for
changes in the schedule of test and urgency in calling candidates,
sources said that the changes were made in haste under some pressure.
They said many candidates might not have received the call letters,
which were sent on the last working day, as only 26 out of 41
candidates turned up for the test on Monday. Protesting
against the development, Kuts members held a meeting with the
vice-chancellor in the morning and later reached the KU-run Sheikh
Zayed Islamic Centre (SZIC) where the test had been organised. "We asked Dr Fahimuddin conducting the exam to talk to the
vice-chancellor before proceeding further which he did and later
suspended the process on the vice-chancellor's directive," said Kuts
president Dr Abid Husnain. While tests for the mass
communication and Persian department candidates were held according to
the schedule, the candidates for Sindhi department posts staged a
protest demonstration at the administration block of the university
against the last-minute postponement of test. To pacify the
protesters, KU pro vice-chancellor Dr Nasiruddin Khan announced that
the test would be held on Tuesday. However, the test date was later
fixed for June 7. "We appreciate the vice-chancellor for
taking a timely decision as we feel that a significant number of
candidates would have been deprived of the opportunity to compete if
the tests were held today because it's very likely that many candidates
have received the call letters today as Saturday and Sunday were
holidays," said Dr Husnain. Dr Husnain questioned the test timings and said that hasty decisions affected transparency of the examination process.
According to the sources, the 'haste' shown in this case fits in with
other developments at the Sindhi department. The posts for lecturers
were advertised in 2008. However, the selection board could not be held
despite repeated attempts during the last year by a former chairperson
of the Sindhi department, Prof Dr Khurshid Abbasi. She finally retired
three months ago. At present, Dr Abid Shah is the acting chairman of
the department. But being an assistant professor, he cannot be part of
the selection board. In this situation, Prof Saleem Memon, who is also
the dean of the arts faculty, is the senior most teacher of the Sindhi
department. While speaking to us, Prof Memon, who also
heads the Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Chair on the campus, dispelled the
allegation that he pressurised the administration into holding the
tests in an emergency and said: "Deans do not decide the test dates and
it's all up to the administration." Without citing any reason
for the last-minute postponement of the test, a KU press release states
that the test for candidates aspiring for lectureship at the Sindhi
department has been rescheduled and now will be held on June 7 at 10am
at the SZIC. The selected candidates will be interviewed the same day
at 12noon at the vice chancellor's office. The selection board would
interview the selected candidates for the mass communication department
the same day. Dawn
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College vice principal gunned down in Hub
Quetta: Unidentified men shot the vice principal of a Hub Technical
Training Centre (TTC) on Pircas Road on Monday. Chaudhry Ashfaq was on
his way back home from his private homeopathic clinic when armed
motorcyclists opened indiscriminate fire at him, killing him on the
spot. His body was taken for autopsy to Qadir Hospital in Hub. A case
has been registered and investigation is underway. Daily times
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BIEK exams
Karachi: The controller of
examinations of BIEK has announced that practical examinations of
science, pre-engineering, pre-medical and Science General Group will
begin from June 1. The news
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Delay in promotions irk college teachers
Karachi: The issuance of a notification relating to the recent
promotions of government college teachers from grade 19 to grade 20 has
been further delayed, though more than two months have passed since the
approval of the promotions by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. A meeting of the Provincial Selection Board-1 (PSB) was held on March 10 with the chief minister in the chair.
The meeting approved the promotion of 86 associate professors of grade
19 to grade 20 as professors, but a notification to this effect was
still awaited, sources said. The delay is causing a
great deal of frustration among the promoted teachers as 11 of them
have already retired since March 10, while some 20 more teachers are
retiring in the near future. Expressing concern over the
delay in the issuance of the notification, the president of the Sindh
government colleges' principals' association, Prof Saeed-uz-Zaffar,
deplored that on the one hand a large number of associate professors
had been denied their right of becoming professors in the last seven
years and, on the other hand, officials of the Sindh government's
Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) were not
taking up the matter seriously. "Eleven of the total 86
promoted professors (52 male and 34 female) have already retired since
March 10, while 20 are retiring this year," he said.
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Teachers' protest enters 8th day
Larkana: The protest by primary and secondary school teachers
demanding implementation of time-scale and teaching allowance completed
eight days on Monday. Secondary teachers took out a rally
from the Government Pilot Secondary School after boycotting their
classes under the leadership of G.M. Abro, Sikandar Kalhoro. Carrying banners and placards, they reached outside the residence of Sindh Assembly Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro. The
teachers reminded Khuhro of his promise to accept their demands in the
tenure of Dr Hamida Khuhro as education minister and now the Chief
Minister was reluctant to signing the summary while Nisar Khuhro was
the custodian of Assembly. They said it was the height of
injustice that except Sindh, teachers in rest of the provinces were
drawing teaching allowance and time-scale since 2006 and 2007. They
announced that teachers would hold a sit-in outside the house of Sindh
Law Minister in Larkana on Tuesday and recording their protest in the
camp office of President House in Naudero on May 26. Primary
teachers also did not conduct classes on Monday in the district. They
took out procession from the office of Primary Teachers Association in
Denni Madrassah in the lead of Syed Ali Raza Shah and Ali Sher Jatoi. They
assembled outside press club and called for early acceptance of their
demands and castigated the Sindh government for not implementing what
Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa governments had allowed to
their teachers. They wondered as to what was keeping the Sindh Chief Minister from signing it. They appealed to Prime Minister and Chief Justice of Supreme Court to provide justice to them. They said that a memorandum to Sindh Governor would be presented on May 27, in Karachi. Dawn
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Arif Kasam elected as member of NED Senate
Karachi: Engr Arif Kasam, has been elected unopposed as member of
the Senate of NED University of Engineering and Technology Karachi, a
University notification said Monday. He was elected under category of Regional Graduates in pursuance of
Section 13(1)(X) of the NED Univerrsity of Enggineering and TTechnology
Act, 1977 for the period of three years with effect from May 23. App
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