PESHAWAR, May 15: The teachers of Peshawar University have expressed grave concern over the academic standard of the university and stressed the need for reforms to arrest the decline.

Commenting on the academic standards of the University of Peshawar, teachers of various departments told Dawn that the teaching standard at the university was declining with each passing day. Complaints about teachers bunking classes were also on the rise, said a teacher.

“The lack of proper check on their duties provided them with an opportunity to take classes at their own will,” the teacher informed.

“Very rarely, I see a day when all the classes are held in my department. The chairman of the department too is not taking any action against teachers as he sits rarely in his office,” said a university student.

The misuse of official vehicles, stationery and the pathetic conditions of the teachers accommodation were indicative of the fact they had failed to keep the moral standards of their noble profession, another teacher said.

“To get rid of the prevalent malaise a proper system of checks should be introduced to monitor the performance of the teachers, besides bringing reforms to improve standard of higher education,” he maintained.

The scientific method of teaching is not known to the social sciences in particular and natural sciences in general at the University of Peshawar, a former student said.

“Research methodology, rooted in the scientific method of studies is not at all taught as a subject here and obviously there is no qualified teacher either to teach it as a subject. This lack of scientific method of studies developed such a worldview of the students which is not only mythical but also irrational,” the student maintained.

The proposed reforms to improve standard of higher education would be useless unless drastic changes were brought to the administrative domain of the university, another teacher said, pointing out that the “Qabza group” in the university administration would undo the reforms.

“Reforms are not only reflective of enlightened individuals but also of the enlightened institutions. Radical departures are painful, agonizing and dislocate the vested interests, but then the universities are the beacons of reforms themselves,” he maintained.