In an unprecedented move, public university hands out cash prizes among deserving students
Selection was made on the basis of extracurricular activities, attendance and midterm scores.
KARACHI:
In what could be considered a positive example for other educational institutions to follow, the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University in Lyari has distributed monthly stipends of Rs2,000 to some of its students on the basis of merit and need.
The university, which opened its doors to the first batch of 174 students in March, organised a ceremony on Thursday at its auditorium.
The vice chancellor of the university, Dr Rashid A Shah, distributed cash to around 130 students enrolled in the computer science, business administration, commerce and English departments. The prize money was distributed on the basis of performance in the midterm exams, class attendance and participation in extracurricular activities. The audience burst into cheers and applause as Jehan Islam, the acting chairperson of the English department, called students to the stage to collect their envelopes.
“We promised these monthly stipends to encourage education in the middle class families of Lyari,” said Dr Shah. He added that students were given stipends for April and this process will go on for each subsequent month. “The people of Lyari feel a slightly alienated at the moment. By our commitment, we will succeed in integrating the residents of Lyari as well as three other towns into Karachi,” he said.
The university, as per its act, which has been approved by the government, reserves 50 per cent of admission seats for Lyari, Gadap, Keamari, and Malir. “The remaining 50 per cent of seats were divided between all districts of the province, including eight seats for the Karachi district,” explained the registrar, Prof. Dr Mehboob Ali Shaikh.
“We have to go a long way to make this fledgling project a success and for this, our faculty and administration even works on Sundays,” said Dr Shaikh. He quipped that the wives of university’s employees have started to get a little irked at their busy schedules.
The institution only has four departments at the moment but several other blocks have been constructed to accommodate new academic disciplines that it plans to introduce in coming years.
Dr Shaikh said that there are only three public-sector universities in the city and more are needed. The other two are Karachi University (KU) and Sindh Madrasatul Islam. “Karachi has expanded so much over the years that a great number of students who apply to KU fail to get admissions,” he said. Dr Shaikh added that there is still a need to establish three or four public-sector universities in the city. “Karachi is a whole different world in itself and people do not wish to leave it and study elsewhere.”
The students enrolled consider the establishment of the university a blessing. Roughly half of them reside in Lyari. “We really needed this institution since our parents did not allow us to go all the way from Lyari to KU,” said a commerce student, Faiqa Akram, who resides at Bakrapiri in Kalakot.
The students believe that these stipends will help ease the burden on their parents, since the amount can be used to pay the fee and purchase reference books. “I don’t think anybody can understand how much this amount means to me,” said Mahira Mazhar, who comes to the university from Mahmoodabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2012.
In what could be considered a positive example for other educational institutions to follow, the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University in Lyari has distributed monthly stipends of Rs2,000 to some of its students on the basis of merit and need.
The university, which opened its doors to the first batch of 174 students in March, organised a ceremony on Thursday at its auditorium.
The vice chancellor of the university, Dr Rashid A Shah, distributed cash to around 130 students enrolled in the computer science, business administration, commerce and English departments. The prize money was distributed on the basis of performance in the midterm exams, class attendance and participation in extracurricular activities. The audience burst into cheers and applause as Jehan Islam, the acting chairperson of the English department, called students to the stage to collect their envelopes.
“We promised these monthly stipends to encourage education in the middle class families of Lyari,” said Dr Shah. He added that students were given stipends for April and this process will go on for each subsequent month. “The people of Lyari feel a slightly alienated at the moment. By our commitment, we will succeed in integrating the residents of Lyari as well as three other towns into Karachi,” he said.
The university, as per its act, which has been approved by the government, reserves 50 per cent of admission seats for Lyari, Gadap, Keamari, and Malir. “The remaining 50 per cent of seats were divided between all districts of the province, including eight seats for the Karachi district,” explained the registrar, Prof. Dr Mehboob Ali Shaikh.
“We have to go a long way to make this fledgling project a success and for this, our faculty and administration even works on Sundays,” said Dr Shaikh. He quipped that the wives of university’s employees have started to get a little irked at their busy schedules.
The institution only has four departments at the moment but several other blocks have been constructed to accommodate new academic disciplines that it plans to introduce in coming years.
Dr Shaikh said that there are only three public-sector universities in the city and more are needed. The other two are Karachi University (KU) and Sindh Madrasatul Islam. “Karachi has expanded so much over the years that a great number of students who apply to KU fail to get admissions,” he said. Dr Shaikh added that there is still a need to establish three or four public-sector universities in the city. “Karachi is a whole different world in itself and people do not wish to leave it and study elsewhere.”
The students enrolled consider the establishment of the university a blessing. Roughly half of them reside in Lyari. “We really needed this institution since our parents did not allow us to go all the way from Lyari to KU,” said a commerce student, Faiqa Akram, who resides at Bakrapiri in Kalakot.
The students believe that these stipends will help ease the burden on their parents, since the amount can be used to pay the fee and purchase reference books. “I don’t think anybody can understand how much this amount means to me,” said Mahira Mazhar, who comes to the university from Mahmoodabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2012.