Transferred out without a reason: Students skip classes, protest

AWKUM students in Charsadda protest after transferred to the newly-established BKU.

PESHAWAR:

Students of the Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan (AWKUM) protested on campus on Friday over being transferred to the Bacha Khan University (BKU) Charsadda.

The students of the Palosa campus, a sub-campus of the AWKUM, had been boycotting their classes since the last six days and had also threatened to block the motorway if their demand of being given degrees from AWKUM was not met. They said they were not given any reason for the transfer.

Addressing the protesters, students Noor Ali Khan, Aziz Khan, Abdullah, Shah Fahd and Firdous said that a large number of students are pursuing four-year degrees in Geology, Biotechnology, Management Sciences, Sociology, Computer Science, Agriculture, Chemistry and Mathematics.

“We were part of the Palosa campus for the last three years. And now they have told us to migrate to the [BKU],” said Noor.

He added, “It makes no sense. This kind of a decision has never been taken before; it is a joke with us.”

Aziz Khan told The Express Tribune, “We are fearful of the status of our degrees and there is confusion regarding who will issue them.”

He added that since BKU is a newly-established university, they are worried about the time when they have to apply for jobs.

The students demanded that they should not be moved to the new university, for which new admissions should be held. Teachers from the Palosa campus also said that they did not understand the reason behind this decision.

Arbab Ijaz, media coordinator and personal secretary to Vice Chancellor Prof Ahsan Ali, said that the issue now falls under the domain of BKU. “We have nothing to do with this matter now,” he said. Senior AWKUM officials, including the Vice-Chancellor, were not available for comment despite repeated attempts. 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2012.