‘Classless’: After schools, a university without a building

First year students of Swat University return home on first day without attending classes.

SWAT:

People talk about their first day at college; some remember never before seeing such a huge gathering of students in one place, others fondly recall how they were the only ones who managed to avoid ragging and a few remember how they were scolded because they were late to their first class, because they could not find it.

The first year students at Swat University (SU) had problems finding their classes on the first day of school too, but not because they were unfamiliar with the building, but because the said building did not exist.

The students kept searching for their classes and were misdirected by the university administration, leaving them in confusion. They ended up going home without having attended a single class.

The university administration requested the government to allocate a district agriculture department vacant building for classes, which was approved by the regional manager. However, the local administration later backtracked on his promise.

“The students were supposed to attend biodiversity classes at the vacant building, for which we were issued an NOC as well, but later the district administration refused to allow classes in the building,” said SU Spokesperson Iqbal Rawan.

A student said, “We don’t know where our classes will be held. The university has started its classes but it doesn’t have any building.”

Another student, Imran, said, “I was looking forward to my first day at college and not this mess.”

Shaukat Khan, whose two sons took admission at the university, said, “The university has given admissions to students and charged high amounts of admission fees from them without realising that there is no building to accommodate them. It is really unfair to the students and their parents, who have high expectations from their children.”

Swat District Coordination Officer Kamran Rehman said that the university was under “some political influence,” adding that the agriculture department’s building was illegally issued to the university. “The provincial government has been informed about the issue and they will make the final decision,” he explained.

The Swat University was established after 30 years of continuous endeavours by local people.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2011.