June 13, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1429

KARACHI, June 12: As many as eight girl students appearing in their masters exam at the University of Karachi campus have fallen unconscious over the past couple of days reportedly due to the poor arrangements made by the varsity administration amid the sultry weather conditions.

However, keeping in view the rain forecast made by the Met Office, the administration on Thursday notified that all those students who were to appear in the exams at the Department of Arabic and Department of Islamic Learning would now be able to take their exam at the Gymnasium Hall and the Department of Applied Chemistry respectively.

According to sources at the KU, the administration has arranged for the cheapest chairs and tents available, chairs for Rs2.57 per day and tent for Rs5 per day, and there are no proper fans and water arrangements for almost 2,024 students appearing in the MA exams.

They said that the centre inspector responsible for the monitoring of the arrangement was also found missing.

They were of the view that setting up of makeshift examination centres in the open using tent screens in such weather conditions was beyond comprehension and the decision taken on Thursday regarding the shifting of centres should have been taken earlier. However, the pro-vice-chancellor of the KU, Dr Ikhlaq Ahmed, said that the incident had been blown out of proportion and it had nothing to do with the management.

Load-shedding, he said, was the real issue due to which students had to face some inconvenience. However, none of the students had fainted while taking their exams, he said.