Many colleges fail to start BS programme

Vice chancellors of government universities of various cities of Sindh, including Karachi, have described the lack of infrastructure, semester system and shortage of subject teachers in the institutions as the biggest obstacles in the way of BS four-year programme.

In this regard, the Department of College Education Sindh has asked that colleges should provide the required basic facilities before starting the four-year BS programme so that the government colleges can continue the affiliation for the four-year programme. In this connection an important meeting was held at Sindh HEC on Tuesday, in which the issue of affiliation of a four-year BS degree programme to government colleges of Sindh including Karachi was discussed.

Sindh HEC Chairman Dr Tariq Rafi presided over the meeting. Dr. Amjad Siraj Memon, Permanent Vice-Chancellor of Jinnah Sindh Medical University and Acting Vice-Chancellor of Lyari University, Vice-Chancellor of University of Karachi Prof. Dr. Khalid Mehmood Iraqi, Dr. Jalbani, Vice-Chancellor of Sindh University Jamshoro, Dr. Siddiq Kalhoro as well as vice chancellors of other general government universities of the province, Secretary Universities and Board Noor Samu, Secretary College Education Sadaf Sheikh and Secretary Sindh HEC Moinuddin and affiliation secretaries of the universities participated in the meeting.

According to the sources, on the suggestion of secretary college education, it was decided that in the current situation, a four-year BS degree programme should be started in at least one government college from every district of Sindh including Karachi. Such colleges should be chosen in this regard which is more compatible with the affiliation policy of HEC and universities and better in terms of facilities so that degree programmes can be started in these colleges from the new academic session 2025.

An officer of the college education department said that at present two-year associate programmes are being run in government colleges after completing graduation, in which the enrollments are continuously decreasing and now only a few thousand students are enrolled for this programme.

A vice chancellor pointed out the main reason for this situation and said, “Associate degrees are copied from foreign countries where the programme is conducted as technical or vocational education while we have started this programme as conventional education. We are not giving the graduation degree to the students. Similarly, this programme is running on annual examination system instead of semester system.” Another participant of the meeting, a vice chancellor said, “Enrollment in the colleges which have been given the affiliation for BS four year programme is so low that running the programme is difficult.”

The meeting was informed that there is a severe shortage of teachers of various subjects in colleges. If there is even a teacher to start the desired programme, he or she gets transferred within a few months which makes it difficult to run the programme and that adversely affects the results of the students. A vice chancellor emphasized the need for the semester system in colleges for BS programmes, as a four-year degree requires it.

However, teachers lack training and familiarity with it, as they are accustomed to the annual examination system. The meeting also addressed flaws in the new affiliation policy by the Federal HEC. Dr. Amjad Siraj Memon of Lyari University criticized the policy for not allowing de-affiliated colleges to re-affiliate, even if they meet requirements. He noted delays in syndicate meetings for university approval, per the new policy.

In the meeting, it was agreed that Sindh HEC will share relevant points with Federal HEC and issue a form for colleges running four-year degree programs. This form will record affiliation applications and inspection status, to be later submitted to the Sindh High Court, per its order to start the four-year degree program in colleges.

The Express Tribune reached out to the college education secretary about obstacles in adopting the four-year degree program. He cited poor communication between the department and universities as the main reason for non-affiliation. Consequently, the HEC Chairman agreed to monthly meetings to address these issues.