A visiting faculty member at the University of Karachi (KU)’s Public Administration Department (DPA) resigned on Monday ‘after being pressurised to allow ineligible students for appearing in annual examinations by the department’s chairman’.
The teacher, on condition of anonymity told Pakistan Today, that she had barred some students from appearing in the semester examination due to short attendance but the chairman pressurised her into taking their paper and when she refused, he misbehaved with her.
The faculty member, who teaches the third-year DPA course ‘Management Ethics’, was seen walking out of the classroom with tears in her eyes due to the chairman’s attitude.
She said she had been teaching for the past two years at the KU as visiting faculty and taught students of different disciplines.
“I had short-listed some students who do not attend classes regularly, as ineligible for taking the exam. Among them was a student who was also caught red-handed using unfair means during the mid-term examinations. I had then taken him to the DPA chairman, who directed me to give him zero marks,” she said. “On [the chairman’s] order, I gave him a zero in his paper and submitted his exam copy to the chairman, who promised me of submitting the case with the KU’s Disciplinary Committee (DC).”
The teacher said that on Monday, when the said student came for taking the paper, she asked him to go out as he was ineligible and his case yet to be decided. “He was also ineligible because he had not attended the number of course classes as required.”
“The student started shouting at me and said the chairman had allowed him to sit in the exam,” she said. “I asked him to come to the classroom with a written permission from the DPA chairman in order to appear in the paper.”
“Later, the chairman called me to his room and as soon as I went inside, he started lambasting me, saying how dare you send a student to me for written permission,” the teacher said.
“When I said that the case of this student cannot be resolved as he is also ineligible due to short attendance, the chairman continued shouting at me and said that if you require a written permission from me, then you should also have sent me the names of ineligible students in written,” she added.
“I have decided to quit the varsity due to the rude behaviour of the DPA chairman,” the visiting faculty member said.
When approached for comments, the DPA chairman said it is the authority of the course in-charge to decide if the student can sit for the paper or not. “However, the teacher should also inform the chairman about the decision but she had not informed me in written.
Dismissing the teacher’s claims of misbehaviour, he said he had not misbehaved with her.
Condemning the incident, KU Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi said the teacher had informed her about the entire episode. “Although it is the teacher’s right to allow or bar the student from sitting in exam, I have asked her to allow the student to appear in the paper and later discuss the matter with the DPA chairman if the result should be issued or not,” she said.
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