PESHAWAR, March 26: Irregularity on part of teachers, coupled with mismanagement, has marred the performance of the Faculty of Law, University of Peshawar, college students informed Dawn on Tuesday.

The students said they wanted their examinations to be held in May because their courses were still unfinished despite the lapse of their academic sessions.

The college administration has fixed April 3 to conduct the annual examinations of part 1, 2 and 3, but the students are not prepared for the examinations because they need more time to finish the courses. They demanded that the examinations be held in May when they were usually held.

Many students alleged that only two out of 10 regular teachers at the department had taught their courses completely. The rest, they said, never took any interest in academic activities.

The visiting staff hired for the college were also said to be the main hurdle in their studies. The students said that except one of the visiting teachers, the others were a burden on the college’s kitty.

The complainants said the university administration often delayed the results of their examinations. Citing an example, they said the candidates, who appeared in their examinations on April 3, were supposed to have graduated in 2001.

Interviews with the students revealed that the lukewarm attitude of the college administration had made the matters worst. According to the students, the only two teachers who have completed their courses on time were not consulted by the authorities concerned while preparing question papers for the last year’s examinations.

The students said they had been in a fix when they had to attempt out-of-course questions.

A visiting teacher, who happens to be a lawyer, has not taught even 10 per cent of his course of Administrative Law to the students of final year. This is true of most of the teachers.

Students suffer immensely, as the courses are never taught within the stipulated time.

As if it were not enough the students undertook only two visits to the courts though they paid Rs600 per head as fee and were required to visit the courts many times during their academic sessions.

Similarly, the students of medical jurisprudence complained that they had not visited the Department of Forensic Medicines, Khyber Medical College, for post-mortem sites. They alleged that the college should have obtained the services of a medical doctor instead of that of a visiting law teacher “who himself does not know the terminologies used in the subject.”

By maintaining regularity, the students said they had gained nothing, as the teachers remained mostly absent from the classes.

However, the college administration told Dawn that the students were no interested in their studies and blamed the teachers for their own shortcomings. But the students maintained that no student had ever been barred from taking the examinations on account of shortage of attendance.

“We have seen several students who didn’t attend a single class during the whole academic session but still they appeared in the examinations,” a student said and asked why the administration did not bar the irregular students from taking the examinations.

Law Faculty Dean Prof Ahmad Ali, while rejecting all the complaints as baseless, said the courses had been completed in December and there was no problems at the department.