Govt college stops programme over low enrolement

Students, parents resent discontinuation of associate degree programme

ISLAMABAD:

Students are facing an uncertain future after discontinuation of the associate degree programme (ADB) at Sihala Model College for Boys in Islamabad.

Authorities concerned have cited low enrollment as the reason behind the termination of the said programme.

Besides depriving poor students of an opportunity to acquire a degree, the move has also reportedly squandered untiring efforts and resources behind launching this programme.

According to official sources, it was discontinued on the directives of the Federal Directorate of Education due to a low number of aspirants.

The college reportedly received around 11 admission requests from students interested in the ADP.

Federal Government College Teachers Association (FGCTA) Senior Vice President Professor Farhan Azam told this scribe that since ADP was a new programme, it would take some time to increase the enrollments. Currently, the number of applications is low but it will increase in the future, he said.

“Shutting down the entire degree programme is not a solution. Depriving students coming from extremely poor families of villages nearby of this facility is just unfair, he added.

Professor Farhan Azam further said that parents with meager incomes do not have enough money to send their kids to the colleges of the city.

Students of the Sihala area are not able to obtain associate degree without leaving their village as this is the only boys college in this area that is offering AD programme, he said.

According to him, the college currently is affiliated with the University of Gujrat and students of ADP pay around Rs10,000 annually. Colleges situated in the urban areas of Islamabad are affiliated with Quaid-i-Azam University and pay Rs28000 per semester which is five times more than the fee of this college.

Local students, particularly from rural areas of Sihala, are incredibly poor and they cannot study in the other colleges of Islamabad, he added.

The students who do not come from wealthy backgrounds are having a hard time, he opined. FGCTA President Dr Rahima Rehman said sky towering claims of promoting education come from every nook and cranny but the closure of this facility is an evidence of the authority’s indifference towards the cause of education.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2022.