

قائد اعظم یونیورسٹی میں معدوم ہو جانے کے خطرے سے دوچار زبانوں اور کلینیکل لسانیات کی تدریس کا واحد شعبہ بند کیا جارہا ہے۔ یہ شعبہ اس نوعیت کے مضامین پڑھانے کا واحد پاسکتانی شعبہ ہے۔ شعبہ لسانیات قائداعظم یونیورسٹی کی بندش کا فیصلہ سنڈیکیٹ سے منظور ہونے پر شعبہ کے اساتذہ اور طلبہ نے وائس چانسلر کے دفتر کے باہر احتجاجی مظاہرہ کیا اور دھرنا دیا۔ اس فیصلے کے خلاف سو سے زائد طلبہ نے 4 دسمبر کو مظاہرہ کرتے ہوئے شعبہ لسانیات کو بحال رکھنے کا مطالبہ کیا ہے۔ سنڈیکیٹ قائد اعظم یونیورسٹی کے مطابق شعبہ لسانیات کو مرحملہ وار بند کیا جائے گا تاکہ پہلے سے داخل شدہ طلبہ اپنی ڈگریاں مکمل کر سکیں۔ یونیورسٹی نے یہ فیصلہ اس شعبے کے “معاشی بوجھ” بن جانے کی وجہ سے کیا ہے۔

(Published in The Laaltain – May 2013)

Quaid e Azam University (QAU) is recognized by HEC as the number 1 university in Pakistan. But it has some major problems which are undermining the quality of education. University’s resources are under tremendous stress due to the huge number of students enrolling each semester. The University has recently introduced a BS programme but it does not have enough resources to accommodate all students. We lack classrooms, lecturers, hostel accommodation (especially for BS students). Transport is another big problem. There are only few buses available and sometimes there isn’t even enough space to stand in the bus. University authorities blame government for not providing enough funding to the university. This is partly true. Unlike other private universities, QAU cannot increase the fee structure steeply. In order to boost its revenue, the admin has increased the number of students on open merit and on self-finance scheme. To enhance the quality of education the university should firstly reduce the number of students. Additional funds from the government could improve the situation, but only if managed properly.
(A student from Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad)
(Published in The Laaltain – Issue 7)
Recently, there was a standoff between students and the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, administration. The students were protesting against increasing fees and demanding better facilities on the campus. Since the university administration was ignoring their demands, the students argued, they had decided to set up Quaidians Students Federation (QSF), a student body that would work to protect the rights of the university students. The protesting students demanded that the university administration stop widespread corruption and recognize QSF as a representative student body. The university management remained unresponsive to students’ legitimate demands and kept on employing the delaying tactics for months.
This stalemate eventually led to cancellation of an international conference on the campus, as the students broke into the venue and started chanting slogans. Following the incident, the administration responded aggressively, expelling 11 students from the university. After this there was a huge mobilization of students against the admin decision to which it ultimately succumbed and had to restore the expelled students.
If there is one lesson one can learn from the fiasco, it is this: students must have a platform where they may organize themselves and from which they may voice their grievances. Political process is always an antidote to violence. The denial of on campus politics will result only in further such deadlocks, as mentioned above, which will definitely harm the educational environment. It is high time the government fulfilled its promises and removed the unjustifiable ban on student unions.