28 November 2004	Sunday	15 Shawwal 1425

PESHAWAR, Nov 27: Students of a private college have asked the University of Peshawar to award them four-year bachelor's degrees in computer science.

Enraged by varsity's decision to award them the two-year Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) degrees instead of the four-year degrees, students of the Brain Degree College made the demand during a protest demonstration held near the Peshawar Press Club on Saturday.

Holding placards, inscribed with their demands, they also criticized the administration of the college for not taking up their case properly with University of Peshawar.

The students alleged that they had been cheated by the administration of the Brain College which had assured them at the time of their admissions that they would be awarded degrees under the four-year programme.

Speaking on the occasion, the students recalled that the University of Peshawar syndicate at a meeting held on July 7, 2001, had approved to stop the BCS Programme in Semester System and decided to replace it with a new Bachelor in Computer Science programme of 4 years.

The above decision, the students said, had been notified to all affiliated educational institutions through a notification No 110/Acd-II on Sept 13, 2001, by the Registrar of the University of Peshawar.

The students said that acting on the directive of the University of Peshawar, the Brains institute also prolonged the duration of the BCS programme and made it a four-year degree programme and the first batch completed its study this year.

The final examination of the BCS 4th year, they said, had been conducted in October 2003 and after waiting for 10 months the result was declared by the University of Peshawar after repeated requests.

The students said they were completely surprised when the Registrar of the University of Peshawar informed them that the students of the BCS four-year, admitted in the Session 2001-03 would be given BCS Composite Degree was equivalent to a two-year MSC Computer Science.

The students also criticized the Brains institute administration for keeping them in the dark over such an important issue. They demanded of the Governor of the NWFP, Lt-Gen (retd) Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, to save students' future and resolve the matter on an urgent basis.