Three hours of protest by the University of Karachi (KU) Bachelor of Studies (BS) students outside administration block on Monday forced the KU management to review its degree programmes that were forcefully implemented by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in 2007.
The KU vice chancellor (VC) has called an emergency meeting of all faculty deans on Tuesday (today) to review the problems being faced by the varsity students. Students of various departments had gathered outside the administration block and chanted slogans against the BS programme (4-year bachelor’s degree) while demanding the university’s top management to restore the previous system of awarding BSc (Bachelor of Science) and MSc (Master of Science) degrees.
The students held placards inscribed ‘we don’t need another bachelor degree, we already posses the same.’ Talking with Pakistan Today, the protesters stated that they had already completed their graduation from KU-affiliated colleges before being enrolled in KU and the university is awarding another bachelor’s degree. Terming the system unjustified, the students also demanded that the Grade Point Average (GPA) system under the BS programmes should be abolished.
Karachi University Teachers Society (KUTS) President Abid Hasnain told Pakistan Today that a majority of varsity teachers had also refused the BS-degree awarding system. “The varsity adopted the BS system amid immense pressure from the HEC. The KU management accepted the decision when HEC threatened to suspend its affiliation in case of refusal,” said Hasnain, adding that the issue was being discussed at the academic council meetings and a majority of teachers had refused to accept the HEC’s decision.
He said after other varsities of the country implemented the BS programmes, the KU followed suit. However, all other universities were still running BSc and MSc programmes in parallel with the global BS system but the KU abolished the old system and enrolled the graduates in BS 3rd year. KU Pro-VC Shahana Urooj Kazmi confirmed that the VC has called an emergency meeting to review the situation after students’ protest.
“The deans of all faculties would meet on Tuesday (today) to look into the matter and review issues with the BS system,” she said. Kazmi said the varsity had replaced the BA/BSc and MA/MSc programmes with the BS system in 2007. “To be awarded a degree under the BS programme, the student must have a GPA of 2.2, equivalent to 65 percent,” she said. “Around 80 students have failed to achieve 2.2 GPA in the semester examination, which lead to the protest in the varsity,” she claimed.
