The latest drop in first-year intermediate examination results in Karachi has raised significant concerns about the quality and functionality of the city’s entire university education system.
According to Express News, the sharp drop in pass rates has also highlighted serious problems with the performance of the inspection department of the Karachi Intermediate Board, which is responsible for overseeing public and affiliated private universities in the city.
The primary responsibility of the Inspection of Universities/Institutions department of Karachi Board is to issue affiliations to public and private universities and conduct inspections of these institutions. However, this department has been virtually dormant for several years under different presidents.
The committees formed by this department are required to visit public universities, assess the necessary teaching facilities and prepare reports for the relevant authorities. But these reports have not been provided consistently, raising growing concerns about accountability and oversight.
Furthermore, when public university principals send exam forms to students, they also submit fabricated attendance records. Based on these false attendance reports, the Board issues admit cards to students, many of whom have never set foot on the university campus during the entire academic year.
In some cases, students do not recognize their subject teachers and teachers cannot identify their students, a clear sign of lack of effective educational delivery.
This absenteeism has long been a persistent problem in public universities in Karachi, where students often attend private training centers rather than their university classes, as universities are mainly used as a platform for admission, enrollment and the submission of exam forms, rather than actual training centres. learning.
There is currently no system in place to monitor student attendance and the Department of University Education has not taken any practical steps to address this gap.
In addition to this, there is a serious shortage of professors in these universities, as the newly appointed professors, after passing the exams required by the commission, were only assigned duties after months of delays.
Meanwhile, nearly 2,300 teaching positions remain vacant in Karachi’s public universities, leading to a shortage of subject-specific educators.
Additionally, public universities continue to lack essential facilities, such as computer labs, and are restricted to purchasing books from a single federal institution. University principals often report that necessary textbooks are not available, further hampering the quality of education.
Private universities, on the other hand, have a better track record in terms of faculty availability and support systems, with more rigorous policies ensuring better student outcomes.
The performance of private universities in Karachi has been consistently better, with pass rates significantly higher than those of public universities.
The disparity between government and private institutions is also evident in recent interim results.
In the pre-medical sciences group, 30,528 students appeared for the exams, but only 10,914 passed all six exams, leaving around 20,000 students failed.
In the scientific pre-engineering group, 22,973 candidates appeared, of which only 6,674 passed the six subjects. Similarly, in the general science group, 17,375 students appeared for the exams, but only 6,282 passed.
This situation is reminiscent of last year’s findings, when a three-member committee was formed under the caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar, which recommended giving students 10-15% additional marks for help them pass.
However, this year’s results show that the problem persists, raising concerns about systemic problems in Karachi’s education system.
When contacted by Express, Dr Soroush Lodhi, former convenor of the committee formed to review the previous year’s results and vice-chancellor of NED University, said that as per the committee’s findings, there were no flaws in the way the results were evaluated. exams. .
He emphasized that no student was unfairly favored, nor was any student intentionally failed. The evaluation process, he stated, was standard and transparent.
A university principal, speaking on condition of anonymity, also mentioned that due to lack of student attendance, teachers are not holding classes regularly. However, during the grading of exams, teachers are extremely strict about following the rules and regulations.
