For foreign students at KU, language barrier is a rude surprise
Karachi, Jan 06: Before taking admission at the University of Karachi (KU), most foreign students look up its website and are impressed. The vast choice of departments, the facilities it offers and the experienced faculty, all at an affordable cost makes it the right place to be.

But once inside, they realise that things are not as pleasant as they look.

For Lauren*, a psychology student from Sudan, her biggest problem is that her teachers don't speak English.

She has gone to them several times, requesting them to speak in English, but they just don't.

"Sometimes they begin in English then they switch back to Urdu. If I protest they say the other students will not understand. But I see all my friends take down lectures in English. How can they not understand?"

"Sometimes they ask me to come to them after class is over. Why should I? I have other classes to attend."

The girl feels dejected. "I have stopped attending classes because I don't understand anything. My four years will be wasted. I will not learn even the ABC of psychology, my major."

Lauren is not alone in her woes. Aden Suxefya, from Somalia who just completed his Bachelors' in mass communications faced the same dilemma. "All the lectures were in Urdu. I just sat like an idiot not getting a word. I would often flunk my exams. But towards the end of my third year, I began to grasp a bit of Urdu and make sense [of the lectures]."

Fauzia, a student from Turkey, has learnt enough Urdu to bargain with the rickshaw drivers. "But I still cannot understand complicated lectures. At the end of the semester, I try to make out what little sense I can from the notes. I used to be an outstanding student till my school days, now I barely pass."

Many of these students are scared to speak up, for they have learnt from their seniors that doing so may land them in trouble.

"If you talk about it to the chairperson or the media, teachers develop a bias. They scold and may flunk us in the exam. This has happened to some of my seniors," Fauzia says.

Dr Mutahir Ahmed, the president Karachi University Teachers' Society (KUTS), said that most foreign students who came to the university were from Africa. "They neither understand English nor Urdu."

He maintains that if a lecture is given in English, students from Karachi understand it, but students from rural areas do not. "As a general practice, teachers teach in English and then summarise the main points in Urdu."

The university has not organised any remedial classes for students weak in English. Though there are compulsory English courses students have to take. The university does not set any minimum requirement for understanding of a language, either English or Urdu, prior to giving admissions. Over 80 foreign students are currently studying at the university.

KU extends fee deposit deadline
Karachi: The University of Karachi has extended by a day the deadline for depositing the fee for the Master's programme open merit and the entry test and Bachelor's programme open merit and entry test.

Now the candidates can deposit their fees by Tuesday at the office of dean faculty of arts between 9:30am and 1pm.

Separately, the university has announced that the faculty of pharmacy would not admit students for the Pharm D deficiency course in year 2014. The director of evening programme Prof Dr Abid Hussnain said the announcements for admissions for the course would be made later this year. The news

KU cancels results on exam centre change
Karachi: Controller of Examinations University of Karachi Professor Dr Arshid Azami announced on Thursday that the results of all candidates who had changed their exam centres without permission have been cancelled. The professor said that the university had not authorised the candidates to choose their examination centres at their own will and therefore their results have been cancelled. Moreover, he also said that the date of submission of registration forms for BA, BOL (private) and candidates who wanted their divisions improved had been extended for a day. Students can submit their forms until Friday (today) said Prof Dr Azami in a statement.

Admissions at KU
Karachi: Admissions to the evening programme of University of Karachi for academic year 2014 will start on Monday (today), announced Director Admissions Prof Khalid Iraqi on Sunday. The admissions would be for various disciplines in BS, Honours, Masters, Diploma and Certificate programmes. Form with prospectus would be available until January 6 at a cost of Rs 1,500 from 9:30am to 5:00pm from United Bank's counter at KU Silver Jubilee Gate. Details regarding admission process can also be obtained from the KU website.

KU holds seminar on biotech, genetic engineering
Karachi: Knowledge based society is a must and key player in sustainable development of a country as well as society, said Dr AQ Khan. He made the statement on Tuesday at a special seminar on 'KIBGE-A Glimpse Since Inception at Dr AQ Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (KIBGE), University of Karachi (KU)'. The seminar was arranged to highlight the development and the progress of KIBGE since its inception. Dr Khan shared all his past experiences with the audience regarding the initial development, infrastructure building, scientific growth and expansion of the institute. He said he was extremely proud that the institute, in the past decade, had produced more than 30 PhD scholars. Sardar Yasin Malik, Member of Governing Council of the institute, announced a grant of Rs 2.5 million for the endowment fund. "It's good to see that the nascent plant of KIBGE is now being transformed into a strong fruitful tree," said Dr Hasan Mujtaba Naqvi. KIBGE Director General Prof Dr Syed Ittefaq Ali encouraged young scientists to produce high quality products and get acknowledgement at national and international level.Daily times

Battle for Sindh University VC post heats up
Karachi: The Sindh government has short listed five names for the post of Vice Chancellor of the Sindh University, the biggest public sector university of the province but the present 80-year old Vice Chancellor Dr Nazeer Mughul has decided to challenge the decision in the High Court.

Dr. Mughul, whose tenure will end on January 8, 2014, had obtained an order of extension in service from the Governor of Sindh in early August 2013 for two more years and that is the basis of his upcoming challenge in the court.But sources of Sindh government said it had been decided to remove VC Mughul.

After 'Sindh Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2013', passed in the last days of August 2013, the discretionary powers of the governor in appointing vice-chancellors of public sector universities of the province were taken away. The governor of Sindh now has no role in appointments or extending their service but Dr Mughul had got the order before the changes in law were made.

Dr Mughul said that the Governor Sindh had extended his service for a period of two more years before the changes were made in the law.The Sindh government in the meantime advertised the post seeking applications and a total of 43 candidates had applied for the post of Vice Chancellor.

Five names were short listed including Secretary Education Dr Fazul Pechoho, former Secretary Sindh government Dr Kalim Lashari, Pro-Vice Chancellors of Sindh University Anwar Ali Shah, Imdad Ismail and Dean of Faculty of University Dr Abida Tahirani for the post of Vice Chancellor of University of Sindh.

The criteria for the post settled by the Sindh government requires a highly qualified person having PhD degree who should not be more than 65 age and a candidate will not be eligible who has completed two tenures on this post.

According to this criteria Dr Mughul will not be eligible due to his age factor but he also has almost completed his second tenure.Dr Mughul was also accused of corruption including selling university land and making irregular appointments. It was alleged that in the last days of his service he promoted his blue-eyed junior officers.

Dr Mughul denied all these allegations and said all appointments had been made according to law and no irregularity was committed in any appointment or promotion. No land of the University was sold out, he categorically stated.

Fuuast announces BCom, BA exam results
Karachi: The Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology (Fuuast) announced on Friday the result of the BCom (private) annual examinations 2012 held in September 2013.

There were 137 registered candidates, and of them 132 appeared in the exams and 47 passed, with 35.61 pass percentage.

The first position was grabbed by Zopash Arshid while the second position went to Syed Sammar Abbass.

The university also announced the result of the BA (private) annual examinations 2012 held in September 2013.

There were 1,206 registered candidates, and of them 1,167 appeared in the exams and 980 passed, with 83.98 pass percentage. The first position was grabbed by Mehboob Farid and the second by Abdul Majid. The news

SSUET orientation ceremony on January 16
Karachi: The orientation ceremony, part of admission process at Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) would be held on January 16, 2014, an official of the institution said here on Monday. The results of the admission test, conducted on November 24, 2013, were announced on December 13. According to the official, admission response in the newly introduced programmes - Architecture, Software Engineering and Bio-Informatics - was very positive. Earlier, the University's Board of Governors had approved the introduction of these three new programmes, keeping in view the high market value. In view of introduction of new technologies and ever increasing number of admission seekers in the existing disciplines of Computer, Electronics, Civil, Telecommunication, Bio-Medical Engineering and Computer Science, the SSUET has already undertaken an expansion project and the construction of a new block is underway. On completion the new block will provide increased space for classrooms and laboratories.Daily times