Bahria University students in Karachi protested outside the campus on Thursday and demanded the administration for online final examinations.
“Zulm ke yeh zaabte, hum nahi maante” the students chanted as they sat outside the university gate. Others held placards that read “Say No to Physical Exams”, and “Online Classes=Online Exams”.
The students began gathering outside Millennium Mall on Rashid Minhas Road at 9 am and marched towards the campus.
Bahria University students are among many other students who have been protesting against on-campus examinations. The students said that their classes were held online because of which they faced many hurdles and there was no learning, so their exams should be held online too.
Many universities decided to hold on-campus examinations after the Pakistani government ordered universities to reopen campuses from February 1.
Bahria University students responses
Bahria University, however, even held its midterm examinations on-campus for some courses in November. A student told that untaught topics in online exams were asked in the examinations.
A student said that they are not against physical examination. “We are just saying that if you want to take in-person examinations, then teach us on-campus for two months,” he said. He also said that they faced many problems during online classes. “It is unfair for the management to hold physical exams after taking classes online.”
The students paid approximately Rs20,000 per course and the university’s resources remained unused. The management didn’t train teachers on taking online classes and didn’t even spend money on purchasing specialized software or making virtual libraries accessible to us, he said. “Even our Zoom sessions would expire after 40 minutes. Can you imagine that?” the student said.
Many students faced internet connectivity issues. Many students missed their classes because of internet connectivity issues.
The attendance system is also quite strict. The attendance for a course can’t be changed once it has been marked, a protester explained. “This created many problems from students outside Karachi.”
The management has, however, remained silent on the issue.
Two police vans have parked near the protest site and before this four to five Naval police cars had come here, a student said. They told us to call off the protest in 30 minutes and threatened us, the student added.
“We are using our democratic right and look at their shameful response towards us,” a student remarked.