‘Sports quota’: For a seat at KU, paisa phaink tamasha dekh

Money and proper links in Karachi University can land ‘unworthy’ admissions.

KARACHI:

Don’t worry if you couldn’t make the merit cut at your desired department in the University of Karachi (KU). There’s still a way. If you have cash and access to the ‘right people’, your wish may just be granted. The ‘sports quota’ – varsity seats reserved for sportsmen – can let you in.

There are more than 5,000 seats in the university and most out-of-merit admissions, in fact, exploit the sportsmen’s quota. The KU Admission Committee director, Khalid Iraqi, says that university rules allow two per cent seats at all varsity departments to be allotted to sportsmen, who have played at national or international levels.

A sports committee sifts through the potential candidates’ applications and then sends recommendations to the admission committee, which almost always, accepts the suggestions. However, the process until it reaches the table of the admission committee members is a complex one. The forms make many pit stops – at the enrolment office, the relevant department and the administration office. This year, the quota became especially handy as it was hard to get admission to the KU otherwise.

According to Iraqi, the number of sports seats available is usually more than the prospective students. Until last year, before Iraqi took over, these seats were assigned arbitrarily by the admission committee members. “This allowed the student wings of political parties to intervene and the committee members, who had points to score, were influenced,” said Iraqi.

This year, such admissions were checked to an extent because only one merit list was issued, instead of the usual three, and the vacant sports seats were advertised.

Money ‘speaks’

It is during all this that the political clout, money and a little persuasion come in handy.

The Express Tribune met an agent, S, who makes good money by helping candidates get admission at their desired departments. He explained in detail how people like him take advantage of the loopholes in the system. S has links in the university administration and also with a certain political party. “No matter how transparent the admission committee is, it will scrutinise only whatever is in front of it,” he said. “They don’t know what has happened with the form before it reached them.”

The charges for the sports seats, however, differ according to demands. For example, mass communication and pharmacy seats are the most sought after and thus the most expensive. A place in pharmacy department ranges between Rs100,000 and Rs200,000; whereas, a mass communication seat would cost around Rs200,000. Admissions to other, somewhat less popular departments, cost around Rs8,000.

“We have connections in the administration and enrolment sections,” said S. “A share of the fee goes to them also.” But S says that the rates also vary for people with ‘links’, and a call from someone above the agents in the party hierarchy often results in a discount. But what actually happens during the time the form is in-process is another story altogether.

A student of KU, requesting anonymity, told The Express Tribune that getting a participation certificate made for a national or international sports event takes between Rs2,000 and Rs3,000.

Just to complete the paperwork, a student may even attach a fake mark sheet with the admission form, and by the time the form reaches the admission committee, it is doctored and the other documents needed are also attached.

Viola!

The university prefers to admit candidates with sports background and first division in their intermediate and matriculation examinations, said Iraqi. But S says: “As long as a student has [sports] certificates, his low percentage – even below the cut off percentage – may be overlooked by the admission committee.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2012.