Bahauddin Zakariya University: Veterinary students protest non-affiliation

University PRO, resident officer say vice chancellor is working to get department recognised.

MULTAN:

Students of the veterinary science department at Bahauddin Zakariya University held a protest demonstration on Friday against the university administration for not getting the department affiliated with the Veterinary Council of Pakistan.

The students gathered in front of the vice chancellor’s office. They raised slogans against the VC and the university administration for “putting them on the back seat”.

The veterinary sciences department at the university was set up in 2007. Two batches have graduated from the department in five years. Students complained that their seniors had faced problems in getting government jobs since their degrees were not recognised. They said they feared similar problems if the department was not affiliated before they graduated.

They said that some 700 students were enrolled in the department whose future was at risk. They said the university administration was “playing with their futures”.

They claimed that they had not been informed at the time of admission that the department was not chartered or approved by the Veterinary Council of Pakistan.



They said that they had been requesting the university administration to do so for three years, but to no avail. They said that this was their first major demonstration after the appointment of the new vice chancellor, Dr Khwaja Alqama. The students also tried to attack the VC’s office, but were stopped by the administration.

They dispersed when some administration officials assured them that they would take up the issue in front of the VC in their next meeting.

BZU Resident Officer Amaanullah told The Express Tribune that the Veterinary Council had several demands, including proper and complete faculty at the department, before they would approve the department. He said the council also wanted the university to construct a separate building and a laboratory for the department and create syllabus on their standards and guide lines.



He, however, said that the issue would be taken up with the VC and the council soon.

BZU Public Relations Officer Mirza Ijaz Bashir told The Express Tribune that the VC had ordered the department head to fulfil all the requirements for affiliation and approval from the Veterinary Council of Pakistan.

He said the VC had earlier ordered to issue Rs8 million for setting up a laboratory at the department.

The VC had also ordered a selection board to complete faculty requirements by January 2013. He said faculty jobs would be advertised in December or January.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2012.