UNLIKE in other provinces, the academic boards and public sector universities of Sindh remained under the administrative control of the Sindh governor for a long period. But recently the Sindh Assembly passed a bill which shifted the administrative control/power to the chief minister of Sindh.

This step has been highly applauded by different sections of society with some reservations.

However, time structural changes were made for the betterment and uplift of education in the province.

The most important among those changes is the upgradation of acts/codes of all provincial universities to meet the need of the hour, modern academic challenges and ever-changing circumstances.

All other provinces ,except Sindh, have amended and upgraded their university codes or acts.

In addition, the admission policy of engineering and medical colleges and universities needs serious revision and decisive changes.

These colleges and universities enroll students on the basis of marks secured in pre-entrance test and CPN (the cumulative marks obtained in the SSC and science subjects of the Higher Secondary Commission).

Thus, the marks secured in the SSC and the HSC have 50 per cent weightage and play a vital role in the admission to medical, engineering and public sector universities.

As a result, some mafias are involved in the crime of tempting students or their parents to get their marks increased in the SSC examinations or science subjects of the HSC from the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Sindh.

Subsequently, the unethical practice of increasing CPN not only deprives the meritorious but poor students of their legal right but also makes education a privilege for the elite class.

The solution to this social injustice is that the CPN should not be counted for the admission purpose whereas all students who have secured at least 60 per cent marks in the HSC should be made eligible for taking pre-entrance admission test in medical and engineering universities and colleges.

The students appearing for the test should be offered admission purely on the basis of merit/marks they secure in the pre-entrance test.

It is, however, vital that the pre-entrance test is conducted with infallible transparency and foolproof administration.

This way merit will prevail and the boards will also regain and retain their lost credibility. Moreover, the mafias and nefarious practices will be discouraged.

M. TUFAIL CHANDIO Badin