Karachi University students protest against semester examinations

Scores of students from the University of Karachi (KU) protested on Tuesday against the administrations decision to conduct semester examinations from September 21, demanding they are promoted on the basis of assignments submitted during online classes.

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On the first day back after a six-month break due to the novel coronavirus, students gathered outside the varsity's administration block expressing dissatisfaction with the quality of online teaching.

The students were of the opinion that there was no 'teaching' in the online classes, rather the teachers only asked students to submit assignments. On what basis was the varsity then conducting these examinations, the students demanded to know.

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They further demanded to be promoted to the next semester on the basis of the assignments submitted.

The protest was attended by students from various departments, including of Political Science, English, Sociology, Chemistry and Physics to name a few.

Sherwani, a student of the Department of Commerce questioned why examinations were being held when teachers did not teach anything during online classes.

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Soon after the protest, Campus Security Officer Dr Moeez Khan and Student Advisor Dr Salman Zubair came out to address the students. Negotiations were underway at the time the story was filed.

It is to be noted that the university had conducted technical training of its students after Eidul Fitr during the lockdown, after which it began online classes. However, students were not satisfied with the quality of education rendered during those classes.

Earlier, on August 12, KU had issued a notification to conduct semester examinations online via Skype, Google Classrooms, Microsoft Teams or WhatsApp.

The notification mentioned four different modes of examinations which included 'during session assessments', These were to be based on term papers, case study projects, thematic essays, individual or group presentations, class tests or activity, quiz, e-portfolio, open-book assignments and individual or group oral examinations.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2020.