QAU closure: Shortage of rooms, not power to blame
Varsity cited power outages as reason for early closure, sources blame housing shortage.
The official reason given for the subsequent announcement of a 10-day vacation was that incessant loadshedding had been causing distress for QAU’s students. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
For 24-year-old Shoaib, a student at Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), travelling back home and returning to the varsity within a few days to submit assignments could not have been a pleasant experience, particularly in the unrelenting heat and with meager expenses.
Shoaib hails from Bhakkar, in Punjab, and like hundreds of his fellows, was forced to leave the university premises on May 31 after the varsity’s management had decided to shut down the campus.
The official reason given for the subsequent announcement of a 10-day vacation was that incessant loadshedding had been causing distress for QAU’s students.
But deeper investigations revealed that the university’s overloaded hostels, an issue that the management conveniently left out, had precipitated the frequent power outages.
Power cuts and water shortages, which have been plaguing the university for the past few years, prompted hostelites to raise concerns before the varsity management.
“Girls at the hostel are suffering due to the acute water shortage; we don’t get a drop for hours,” said a female student from Gilgit-Baltistan.
The situation had gotten so dire that girls would fetch drinking water from boys’ hostels, she added.
QAU’s Academic Staff Association (ASA) has raised its employees’ awareness of basic rights and has threatened to protest and abstain from performing its duties for the varsity.
ASA President Dr Waheed Iqbal said the QAU management was not enrolling students on merit by ignoring standard assessment procedures, resulting in overburdened hostels.
“A few years ago, 20-25 students on average would sit in a classroom; now that number has increased to 50,” he said, adding that the expansion of physical assets was not the varsity management’s area of expertise.
QAU has recently allotted newly built quarters near Bari Imam, which will be used as a hostel, to some 150 students who were at odds with the university having waited to be provided university residence for years.
The Employees Welfare Association and Officers Staff Association in collaboration with ASA have been putting pressure on the varsity management, which had in turn responded by announcing a short vacation.
A QAU official requesting anonymity justified the move to give students a reprieve, citing that all universities in Islamabad were facing similar issues.
The QAU vice-chancellor said loadshedding, which had increased by an average of 10-15 hours per day, was disturbing for students.
He added that reports of girls fainting and being rushed to hospital were a concern.
“We have made attempts to resolve the issue; the hostels will remain open to students of far-flung areas,” he said.
He added that the construction of a hostel to accommodate 300 female students was in the works.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2013.
For 24-year-old Shoaib, a student at Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), travelling back home and returning to the varsity within a few days to submit assignments could not have been a pleasant experience, particularly in the unrelenting heat and with meager expenses.
Shoaib hails from Bhakkar, in Punjab, and like hundreds of his fellows, was forced to leave the university premises on May 31 after the varsity’s management had decided to shut down the campus.
The official reason given for the subsequent announcement of a 10-day vacation was that incessant loadshedding had been causing distress for QAU’s students.
But deeper investigations revealed that the university’s overloaded hostels, an issue that the management conveniently left out, had precipitated the frequent power outages.
Power cuts and water shortages, which have been plaguing the university for the past few years, prompted hostelites to raise concerns before the varsity management.
“Girls at the hostel are suffering due to the acute water shortage; we don’t get a drop for hours,” said a female student from Gilgit-Baltistan.
The situation had gotten so dire that girls would fetch drinking water from boys’ hostels, she added.
QAU’s Academic Staff Association (ASA) has raised its employees’ awareness of basic rights and has threatened to protest and abstain from performing its duties for the varsity.
ASA President Dr Waheed Iqbal said the QAU management was not enrolling students on merit by ignoring standard assessment procedures, resulting in overburdened hostels.
“A few years ago, 20-25 students on average would sit in a classroom; now that number has increased to 50,” he said, adding that the expansion of physical assets was not the varsity management’s area of expertise.
QAU has recently allotted newly built quarters near Bari Imam, which will be used as a hostel, to some 150 students who were at odds with the university having waited to be provided university residence for years.
The Employees Welfare Association and Officers Staff Association in collaboration with ASA have been putting pressure on the varsity management, which had in turn responded by announcing a short vacation.
A QAU official requesting anonymity justified the move to give students a reprieve, citing that all universities in Islamabad were facing similar issues.
The QAU vice-chancellor said loadshedding, which had increased by an average of 10-15 hours per day, was disturbing for students.
He added that reports of girls fainting and being rushed to hospital were a concern.
“We have made attempts to resolve the issue; the hostels will remain open to students of far-flung areas,” he said.
He added that the construction of a hostel to accommodate 300 female students was in the works.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 4th, 2013.