Alarming statistics: 25 colleges fail to produce any science students this year

Around 22 per cent colleges achieved a meagre 20 per cent passing percentage in the disciplines .

KARACHI:

Not a single student at 25 colleges offering pre-engineering and pre-medical disciplines could clear the intermediate exams this year.

These statistics came to the fore after the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi (BIEK) recently announced the results of the public and private college students. In what can be termed as a cosmetic measure, on Friday, BIEK head Ahmed Zai suspended affiliations of these 25 colleges with the board. What’s more, around 22 per cent of colleges offering education in pre-engineering and pre-medical groups managed less than 20 per cent results.



It seems the BIEK and the provincial directorate of colleges have yet to make a major headway in steering the performance of colleges. The result of intermediate pre-medical and pre-engineering groups is termed ‘acceptable’ if one goes by the board statement. On Thursday, the BIEK announced that as many as 58 per cent of the total 45,430 students at 214 public and private colleges managed to get through the exams.

It would, however, be unfair to overlook the fact that hardly 45 per cent of over 200 colleges across the city were the ones where at least half of the students managed to pass their exams. The data available with The Express Tribune shows an increase in the number of such colleges by up to three per cent compared to last year results.

Tuition culture

Even top position-holders did not shy away from stating that it would not be possible for them to stand out in exams without opting for tuitions. “It has become a necessity because we cannot master the subjects by attending classes at colleges only,” admitted Munazza Khan, a student at St Lawrence’s Government Girls Degree College, who stood first in this year’s pre-engineering exams.

Ironically, well-known college teachers run these tuition centres and many of the centres now impart education even during college hours. The teachers, who are supposed to be at the colleges during these hours, give ‘exclusive’ attention to each student at the tuition centres and charge handsome fees, which many cannot afford. “For this reason, classes just do not commence at most of the public colleges. And when teachers do come, students do not bother to show up at colleges,” said Syed Ahsan Adeeb, another position-holder, who opted for Aga Khan Higher Secondary School - a private institution - for this very reason.

Warnings

Every year, the BIEK issues show-cause notices to the colleges which manage a pass percentage below 20 per cent. The institutions are warned to improve on the situation by the next year or their affiliation may be revoked. Due to an apparent disagreement between the BIEK and the provincial directorate of colleges, however, these warnings used to serve as a mere formality. “If we revoke affiliations without taking other departments onboard, the ‘may’ in the clause could cause a number of repercussions,” he added.

Zai maintained that earlier the board could not have directly intervened to improve the state of affairs of colleges as the directorates of public and private institutions were the stakeholders. “But it was resolved after several meetings with the relevant stakeholders that if faculty has been provided to such colleges, the BIEK will feel compelled to revoke their affiliations,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2013.