KU to discuss resumption of academic activities during lockdown tomorrow

The Karachi University's Academic Council will discuss the possibilities of resuming the academic activities during the coronavirus lockdown in a meeting via video link on Friday (tomorrow).

The Academic Council will decide the mode of teaching, with the online classes being the preferred one, at this time when the regular classroom-based studies could not be conducted given the lockdown regime in place against the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier on Monday, a meeting of the Deans’ Committee, which was chaired by acting vice chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi, was conducted at the VC office to discuss matters related to the first semester of the year 2020 in view of the COVID-19 situation.

The deans discussed the outcome of the meetings of their Board of Faculties that were based on the deliberations of the board members that included almost all the members of the Academic Council and representatives of lecturers, assistant professors and associate professors of the departments.

Based on the outcome of their meetings, the deans recommended that the university would facilitate three to five teachers from each faculty as master trainers, whose responsibility would be to train other faculty members of their faculties.

Furthermore, the deans would be responsible for nominating the master trainers. They would also monitor the training of other faculty members by the master trainers.

As per the deans’ recommendation, the dean offices would be the hub to facilitate the teachers, whereas, the Dean Faculty of Education, Professor Dr Nasir Salman, would guide the teachers in avoiding plagiarism and copyright matters during online classes.

The online classes/submission of assignments of various courses as per the approved course outline would be conducted until July 15. The online classes may also include the alternative to labs/practical sessions.

The teachers could conduct online classes from their home, and in case of any difficulty, they could use their offices, classrooms, or meeting rooms of the dean offices of their faculties. Each department will constitute a departmental evaluation/student assessment committee before July 15.

Subject to permission by the authorities, the university would conduct classes for the students who will be unable to attend the online classes on Saturdays and Sundays from July 16 to August 13. During the same period, classes, labs, or alternatives to labs/practical will complete the leftover part of the syllabuses by considering the smart duration of 40 minutes for each class.

The finalisation of online student assessment/examination/evaluation material would be carried out from August 17 to 21 2020. The deans also suggested that semester examination could be held from August 22 to September 12.

The second-semester teaching would be conducted from September 15 to December 13. The semester examinations would be held from December 14 to 31.

Meanwhile, online teaching (classes), labs and assessment for the evening programme would be conducted till July 15, while classes/labs for leftover syllabus could be conducted from July 16 to September 10, and the finalisation of online assessment/examination/evaluation material would be held from September 11 to 13.

The first-semester examination could be held from September 14 to 30, while the second semester could be arranged from October 01 to December 31, and the second-semester examinations could be conducted from January 1 to 20, 2021.

All these recommendations would be placed before the Academic Council consideration, discussion, and approval on tomorrow.