LAHORE – Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed on Monday ordered the University of Health Sciences (UHS) to allow 91 nursing students of the Saeeda Waheed FMH Nursing College to appear in examinations starting from today (Tuesday). The judge passed the order on petition of Saeeda Waheed FMH Nursing College, filed through Training Programme Director Mrs Irshad Javed, submitting that the UHS had unlawfully denied permission to more than 30 nursing students to sit in examination.
The judge directed the UHS to give permission to the students to sit in the exam immediately but it might withhold announcement of results until final judgment on the petition pending before the court. Petitioner’s counsel Sidra F Sheikh advocate submitted that the UHS on June 2, 2008 granted affiliation to the Saeeda Waheed FMH Nursing College for teaching BSc Nursing 4-years programme and Post RN Nursing 2-year courses with annual intake of 30 student for each programme. The petitioner’s counsel said that on July 2, 2008, the nursing college wrote a letter to the UHS registrar expressing dissatisfaction on limit of 30 students per year and requested for an affiliation for in intake of 60 students for each programme and later demanded it be increased to 75 students per annum.
Sheikh said that afterwards several meetings were held between the college and syndicate of the UHS on the matter and the UHS authorities linked decision on the matter to a new inspection of the college premises and faculty by a UHS committee but the committee did not conduct the inspection despite several reminders and prolonged the matter. Now examinations are starting at the UHS from January 18 and the UHS has refused to give permission to students to sit in the exam, playing with the future of the nursing students, the counsel said.
Sheikh said that the college managed to have its students sit in the examination in February 2009 on a provisional basis, subject to review of the request to increase in number of students by the UHS syndicate in the next meeting. Later, on December 22, 2010, the petitioner wrote a letter to UHS and the varsity replied that the said affiliation committee will make a surprise visit to the nursing college to assess its facilities and registration of students for session 2010. The committee did not conduct the visit and the fate of students remained hanging in balance.
The counsel said that the FMH Nursing College is one of the best colleges in South Asia and it has a contract with the Punjab government for providing 50 fully qualified and trained nurses per annum from each programme including BSc 4 years and RN nursing 2 years to for public-sector hospitals in Punjab. Sheikh said that in the meantime, the UHS first processional examination, first year final exam, of batch of post RN 2 years degree 2010-2012 and first professional examination of BSc nursing degree programme 4 years 2010-2014 is scheduled to be held on January 18. The UHS has refused to give permission to 91 nursing students of both batches to sit in the examination saying that the decision will be made on the matter in the UHS syndicate meeting on January 24.
The counsel said that the nursing collage has a large campus and highly qualified teaching faculty including 21 full time teachers and 34 part time teachers from the FMH College of Medicine and Dentistry. The petitioner said that the varsity, its vice chancellor and other respondents are acting beyond their lawful authority in denying students to take part in the examination and in extending the intake of students for the varsity’s annual examinations.
The college beseeched the court to direct the varsity to give permission to nursing students to sit in exam otherwise the students will face loss of one year in their studies, which will affect their careers badly.
