DJ Science College falling prey to maladministration

Student leaders worry about declining standards, lack of facilities, shortage of staff

KARACHI:

Inaugurated as Sindh Arts College by then Bombay Governor Lord Reay on January 17, 1882, Dayaram Jethamal Science College, commonly known as DJ Science College, got its current name upon the completion of the present structure in 1887. It is located in the heart of old Karachi, near the famous food street of Burns Road.

However, the historic college has been beset with problems, leading to widespread allegations of maladministration from students who are up in arms against the administration.

In glaring examples of mismanagement, students enrolled in Computer Science Group are forced to take classes with their colleagues from Pre-Engineering, while a building constructed for Bachelor's and Master's students in the MSC Block remains vacant as the programs have not started yet.

According to details, the MSC Block was constructed in 2006. Initially, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had announced the project only to hand it over to the Sindh government later on. "Ten years have passed since the completion of the building, but admissions in Bachelor's and Master's programs have not been started by the administration," Taimur Ahmed, President of Students Action Committee at DJ Science College, told The Express Tribune.

He said that DJ Science College was at the zenith of its glory during the British colonial era when the institution even offered PhD programs. Let alone higher education, a conspiracy is now being pursued to also destroy the intermediate programs and courses at the college," he alleged.

Karachi University (KU) is willing to grant affiliation to DJ Science College, but the institution does not have the mandatory labs and other teaching facilities for this purpose, according to students.

In the past, the college had a 112-member faculty, but the number of teachers has since gone down to 42. Seven teachers have recently been transferred, while some departments have also been shut down for good. Currently, the college needs at least 150 teachers to teach the remaining programs.

When approached by The Express Tribune, Dr. Qasim Rajpar, Deputy Director Colleges Sindh, sought to shift the blame to KU which, according to him, was not granting affiliation to DJ Science College. "The matter has been in the Sindh High Court pending adjudication," he said.

However, he added that by the year 2023 BS and MS programs would be started in all colleges of Sindh. In the first phase as per the high court orders, 58 colleges will be affiliated with each district having one girls and one college affiliated with a public sector university for higher education.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2022.