Want to be an engineer? NED may increase seats and fees

The university’s academic council proposes amendments to admission policy.

KARACHI:

If you’re thinking about applying to NED University of Engineering and Technology, it’s time you check out the proposed amendments to their admission policy.

From the next session, which starts September, the university’s academic council wants to increase the number of available seats from 1,928 to 1,952.They are also planning to change the eligibility criteria. In the past, prospective students who earned 40 marks in the entry test were offered a seat, now they have to earn 50 marks. The university is also planning to increase the fees for general seat and students who fund themselves.

NED’s registrar Javed Aziz Khan told The Express Tribune that the amendments were a customary process they went through before the admissions. “The academic council comprises of professors. It has made recommendations,” he said. “Their proposals and amendments will be effective from January 2013, after they get approved by the university’s syndicate which will meet in June this year.” He added that they wanted to increase the seats by 24 because they planned to introduce optical engineering as a new course next year. In 2012, the university introduced students to food and construction engineering.

While discussing the eligibility criteria for admission, which are different from other universities, Khan explained that the university had devised their own admissions process based on the Board of Intermediate Education Karachi results.

The applicant’s performance in the entry test and interviews counts for the overall application. However, most students consider the NED entry test as a mere formality because all they have to do is pass the test.

Their admission into the university is based on their intermediate result.

“We do not want to question the eligibility of the students who have already proved themselves at the intermediate level,” said Khan while talking about the inter exams. “However,  due to the cheating culture the situation is deteriorating. We believe the governor of Sindh is responsible for the education system and should ensure that this does not happen.” Many students at the university do not agree with this. “The corruption at the intermediate level produces students who are unable to solve basic algebra questions but ‘miracles do happen’ and they end up securing exceptional grades,” said Anum Khan, a student at NED. She added that the entry test was predictable and quite easy.

Fee structure

Self-financing students will pay Rs500,000 instead of Rs450,000 which was the fees this year. Students who get in on regular seats will have to pay Rs17,000 instead of the current Rs15,000 for the first semester.

In 2007, the university was charging Rs250,000 for self-finance and it was increased to Rs375,000 in 2008. Since 2010, the fees was increased to Rs450,000.

According to Khan, the money generated by the self finance seats helps the university to cope with rampant inflation and run its affairs smoothly.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2012.