KARACHI:
Universities are supposed to be reliable institutes that work for students’ well-being and development. QAU is one of the best public sector universities as per national rankings, but unfortunately, students here are faced with numerous issues.
First, the administrative affairs are a torture when it comes to facilitating students. I witnessed a terrible delay in the issuance of my transcript when applied for an urgent one. In addition, students are concerned about issues like library timings and bus routes. Evening students are on campus till 6pm, but the departmental libraries close at 3:45pm, facilitating only the morning batch. Buses for the morning batch are numerous, while for the evening, they have merged the routes, overloading buses and making it time-consuming to reach their destinations. There is also inefficiency in the administration of scholarship grants, which includes the Prime Minister’s Youth Laptop Scheme and cash prizes. Last week, we received our laptops which were supposed to be distributed in 2023. Students who acquired top 3 positions in their first years are now in their final year and have not yet received their cash prize.
Second, there are complications with the faculty as well. They are non-observant of class timings. Friday is supposed to be a holiday, yet students are asked to show up for make-up classes. On a worse note, the same faculty members are unavailable for student support outside class timings. The visiting faculty’s grading patterns of examinations are questionable, too. They disappear after semesters leaving students unattended for their concerns about low grades.
These issues must be addressed as soon as possible, otherwise higher education in Pakistan will continue to deteriorate.
Khaula Gul
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, April 9th, 2024.
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