KU reserves 2pc seats for minorities with same admission criteria

The meeting of the academic council of the University of Karachi on Monday approved the allocation of two per cent of the seats on the campus for religious minorities.

The meeting was chaired by KU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, and it was held at the Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium (formerly Arts Auditorium). The participants of the meeting said that the merits of the admission criteria would remain the same for religious minorities, and that students should submit their applications to secure admissions.

The universities & boards department of the Sindh government had written to public sector universities in the province to adopt the agenda as a policy matter. The council also approved the Anti-Plagiarism Policy 2.0 issued by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), as well as the Pharmacy Council of Pakistan’s recommendations to give 10 additional admissions to students from Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan in the Department of Pharmacy. In the meantime, a committee was formed for the implementation of the Affiliation Policy 2024 following the instructions of the HEC. The convener of the committee is Prof Dr Faiyaz Vaid.

Its members are Prof Dr Anila Amber Malik, Prof Dr Farah Iqbal, Prof Dr Tanzeemul Firdoos, Prof Munawar Abbas and Prof Muhammad Ashraf. This committee would prepare a detailed report after mutual consultation, and submit it to the KU VC, and that report will later be sent to the HEC.

To implement the Seerat course, and the Holy Quran’s translation, Tajweed and Tafsir course, in accordance with the direction of the Senate Secretariat Islamabad, KU’s academic council formed a five-member committee. The convener of the committee is Prof Dr Anila Amber Malik.

The other members are Dr Sheikh Muhyiddin, Dr Iftikhar Shafi, Islamic Studies faculty dean, Prof Dr Zahid Ali Zahidi, and Seerat chair director, Dr Azizur Rahman Safi. This committee will send their recommendations to the KU VC, and they will be shared with the academic council members in the next meeting.

During the meeting, the representatives of college teachers highlighted the problems they are facing due to the absence of the college’s academic calendar, and they shared that it is causing serious issues for the colleges affiliated with KU.

The KU VC informed the participants of the meeting that the intermediate board is continuously delaying the announcements of the results, which is affecting the implementation process of the college’s academic calendar.

He said KU seconds their concerns, mentioning that the colleges should have a proper academic calendar. A six-member committee was formed to resolve the issue of the academic calendar for the colleges. The committee’s convener is Faculty of Pharmacy Dean Prof Dr Muhammad Haris Shoaib. Its members are Prof Dr Basit Ansari, Controller of Examinations Dr Shahid Zaheer Zaidi, Prof Dr Naima Saeed, Prof Dr Naveed and Prof Munawar Abbas. They will prepare a report and submit it to the KU VC.

KU’s academic council elected Prof Dr Shah Aliul Qadar, Prof Dr Taseer Ahmed Khan and Prof Dr Uzma Ashiq through voting as representatives of the council on the Advanced Studies & Research Board (ASRB) for three years, and their tenure will start from the next ASRB meeting.

KU VC Dr Iraqi also issued instructions to reconstitute and update the board of studies of the departments within a month. He congratulated the newly elected members of the academic council, and Prof Dr Shoaib and Prof Dr Musarrat Jahan Yousuf for assuming their duties as deans of the faculties of pharmacy and sciences respectively.