Medical students protest over errors in results

Errors in results of MBBS first professional
Lahore, May 04: Students of public and private medical colleges held a protest demonstration against alleged errors in results of MBBS first professional part-II supplementary 2009, and MBBS second professional supplementary examinations.

More than 200 students of Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, Nishtar Medical College, Multan, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College, Bahawalpur, and private medical colleges including CMH Medical College, Lahore Medical and Dental College, FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry, held a protest demonstration in front of the UHS. They blocked Shahra-e-Jamia-e-Punjab for two hours to register their protest against examination system and allegedly detaining more than 300 students because of errors in compilation and declaration of results. They were holding placards inscribed with their demands and raising slogans against the UHS administration for detaining such a huge number of students, which they said was unprecedented.

Students claimed that university administration ousted all qualified staff of university particularly from the Examination Department, which was presently staffed by unqualified people not trained for the job who had made errors in preparation of results. They also alleged that the UHS had also been passing students on the basis of favouritism through reassessment in violation of rules and regulations.

They demanded the varsity give them "carry on" or allow them a chance to appear in "supra suppli". They informed that the VC initially refused to meet them but later told them to submit their applications for rechecking. According to them, the VC also issued threats to them and called police to disperse them. Students announced that they would boycott classes in all medical colleges and hold a protest demonstration on Tuesday (today) on The Mall, which would continue until acceptance of their demands.

When contacted, the UHS spokesman said that students were challenging their results without any solid reason as, according to him, the MBBS 1st Professional Part-II Supplementary Examination 2009 had shown 71 pass percentage and MBBS 2nd Professional Supplementary Examination 2009 79 pass percentage, which was more than the annual result of the same examinations. He said that students were also raising unjust demand of awarding "carry on" or "supra suppli", which was against the rules and regulations.

He also denied students' allegations, saying the UHS had trained examination staff therefore there was no chance of errors in compilation of results. "Students have the backing of political elements from protesting employees of the UHS to blackmail the university," he added. The news

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KEMU boarders suffering from prolonged power outages
Lahore: Around 12 hours of daily load shedding at the Hall Road wing of the King Edward Medical University (KEMU) boys' hostel has become a permanent "nuisance" for boarders, drastically affecting their performance, learnt on Monday.

The boarders criticised the government and the university administration for failing to ensure uninterrupted power supply, as is the case at the hostel's Link McLeod Road wing.

There are 100 rooms in the Hall Road wing of the hostel, housing 70 first year students and over
200 doctors.

The doctors demanded that the hostels was part of the teaching hospital and should be exempted from power outages, adding that load shedding was affecting their performance at
the hospital.

Performance: Dr Zaidaan Idrees Chaudhry said, "If one doesn't sleep at night, he cannot perform during the daytime at the hospital. The other hostel [McLeod Road] has an electricity connection from the Mayo Hospital, while the hostel for doctors has been left without a dual line or a generator. The whole routine has been disturbed due to long power outages."

Generator: He said in August last year, the hostel administration put up a notice saying it would provide a generator at the Hall Road wing to address the problem, however, no action has been taken so far.

"Students have no idea whether the administration is going to take any steps to provide any relief to them," Chaudhry added.

A first year student said load shedding was taking its toll on studies. He said the lack of an electricity generator or an alternative power supply system meant that the students had little facility for studying. "Exams are around the corner and we cannot concentrate on our studies, which is ultimately going to affect our result," he added.

KEMU Registrar Dr Mehmood Shaukat said that the administration had advertised a tender for acquiring a generator for the Hall Road wing and the process would be completed within a couple of days.

He said the generator would consume Rs 2.5 million worth of fuel per year, which the government had categorically refused to pay due to scarcity of resources.

Moreover, the administration also demanded uninterrupted power supply for all hostels, but the government provided power supply from the Mayo Hospital to only the McLeod Road wing, Shaukat said.

To another question, he said LESCO authorities had also refused to extend exemption from load shedding to all of KEMU hostels.

The registrar said the administration could only purchase the equipment and it was the government's responsibility to provide resources to run them.

However, Chief Minister's Task Force on Health Chairman Dr Saeed Elahi said the government has already raised the health budget, with Rs 2.20 billion allocated for providing air conditioners at hospitals across Punjab. He said the money was being spent in phases at various hospitals, with 87 generators to be installed at hospitals initially. Elahi said the government would ensure the provision of requisite funds to run the generator if the university purchased it. Daily times

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Private schools demand VAT withdrawal
Lahore: Various associations of the private schools, criticising the government for imposing proposed 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on private schools, demanded its immediate withdrawal. The Joint Action Committee for All Pakistan Private Schools Association, All Pakistan Private Schools Welfare Association and other associations held meetings on Monday and unanimously rejected the proposed 15 percent VAT, maintaining that private schools were already paying different kinds of taxes. They observed that the proposed move was anti-education and would ultimately prove a burden on inflation-stricken people. The associations, observing that private schools are already helping the government in promotion of education, have warned that a countrywide protest campaign would be launched if the VAT was imposed on private schools. The news

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132 students booked for cheating in exams
Kohat: The secretary Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Kohat on Monday raided several examination centres along with his team in Karak district and caught 132 students red handed while cheating.

BISE secretary Kohat Shahid Zaman assisted by Prof Habibur Rehman and assistant secretary Nayyar Azam Khan Khattak conducted sudden raids at government girls colleges, Ahmedabad, Mitha Khel, government degree girls college, Karak and Shina Ghar Children Academy and found 132 candidates who were cheating. The staff booked the students for using unfair means and cancelled their papers.

The inspections at girls' centres were conducted by personal secretary to the chairman, Madam Yasmeen, Madam Naseem, Madam Asifa who were assisted by Dr Salma.

According to a press release the raids were part of the campaign ordered by the BISE chairman Kohat, Khan Muhammad Khalil, against booty mafia and upholding of strict policy of merit.

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Owners of schools in houses reject closure notice
Taxila: The office-bearers of private schools/colleges executive association on Monday rejected closure notices issued by the cantonment board Wah to over 230 private educational institutions working in residential areas.

They called upon the director general military land and cantonments and chairman POF Wah to take notice of the matter and save the future of over 30,000 students.

In a meeting chaired by its president Sabir Minhas, the association said private schools and colleges were working in residential areas of over 23 cantonments in the country but nowhere any notice had been issued to them. They said the authorities had introduced discriminatory rules in Wah Cantonment which created unrest among students and their parents.

They said this year Sir Syed School run by Sir Syed Educational Society of POF could not enroll even a single student from class 2 to 10.

Cantonment Executive Officer Younus Khan could not be contacted for comments. Dawn

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Residents protest teachers' shortage
Bisham: The Ghorband Action Committee has threatened to launch a movement against the government if the issues of shortage of teachers in schools and faulty telephone system were not addressed. Addressing a protest rally here Monday, president of Action Committee Musa Khan, Shamsur Rehman and Zaman Gul said that Ghorband area of Shangla district was being kept backward intentionally under a conspiracy. The leaders said education system was on the verge of collapse in the government-run schools due to shortage of teachers. They also said telephone system had been out of order for the last six months but the department concerned did not take any step to repair the system. The protesters threatened that if the situation was not rectified, the residents would come on roads to press the government for acceptance of their demands. The news

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