KARACHI, Nov 17: A high-powered committee of the University of Karachi will look into a plea of a group of college teachers with regard to setting up degree examination centres outside the KU campus, said sources on the campus.

Degree class annual examinations expected to be taken by 75,000 students are to commence on November 25 in phases. The university has already issued the schedule of papers and centres pertaining to BA (Pass) and BSc (Pass) exams, while the BCom exam schedule was almost final.

Sources on the campus said that the group of college teachers, though late in their attempt, had initially demanded for shifting of all exam centres of male and female students to colleges.

However, after knowing that the schedule and other arrangements regarding science and arts degree programme exams had already been finalized, the teachers then approached the KU registrar and vice-chancellor to order at least the shifting of BCom (pass) annual exams to colleges, added the source.

It was learnt that over 27,000 students had registered for BCom (regular) exams, planned to be conducted in two shifts at various departments of the varsity from December 9.

In the case of external candidates of BCom, the varsity had announced that their centres, both for males and females, would be set up on the campus. Teachers were of the view that the said exams should be shifted to colleges since they felt that it was the job of college teachers to conduct the degree exams at their respective colleges.

The degree class exams were shifted to the Karachi university some 10 years back in the wake of reports that those were not being held befittingly at colleges. While on the other hand, the then city administration had not been able to adequately support college principals as far as law and order and the interference of outsiders in the examination process were concerned.

An varsity official said that the group of college teachers had submitted a petition, expressing that they had won the support of college principals with regard to the eleventh-hour shifting of centres to educational institutions in the city.

The VC was actively considering to have a urgent decision so that degree class exams could be held in a peaceful manner as per the dates given by the university some months back, the official added.

A source said that the VC had made up his mind to constitute a high-powered committee comprising senior deans of the university, at the earliest, to look into the matter.

Some college teachers viewed that the university should not go for shifting of only BCom exams to colleges. It should take a uniform decision in the case of all candidates of degree class exams, without creating any division among them, provided the city administration was ready to provide protection to all colleges, said the teachers.

They added that the university should also survey colleges to know about their validity from the examination point of view and also ensure that commencement of the BA, BSc and BCom annual exams was not delayed.

It was further suggested that the KU should also hold talks with the law enforcement agencies on the issue. Till last year, centres for female students were set up at colleges, while all male candidates were required to appear in the exams at centres set up on the campus.