LARKANA: Protest by students of first and second years of MBBS at the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) over newly introduced examination pattern entered the fourth day on Friday but the vice chancellor who had earlier dismissed the protest as ‘unjustified’ showed no signs of relenting.

The protesting students Shahzad Panhwar, Vinaish Nankani and others who held a demonstration outside the administration block of the Chandka Medical College after boycotting classes accused the university of not being clear about its examination policy.

“In the beginning, there was semester system. Later, they switched over to annual examination and then again they adopted the objective structured practical examination (OSPE).

“And now once again, the university is forcing us to appear in multimedia-linked OSPE in utter violation of its own rules given in the college prospectus, for which we have neither been informed nor trained beforehand,” they said.

They feared they could not get through the examination under the new system and complained the university and CMC administration had been threatening them to discontinue protest and appear in examination, else, they would be dealt with severely.

Abdul Samad Bhatti, media coordinator of the university, said in an email to Dawn that the university vice chancellor, Prof Ghulam Asghar Channa, had told the protesting students quite clearly that their demand was unjustified.

He said that all the universities had adopted the new system and started conducting examination under it. Besides, the university’s prospectus and academic calendar clearly mentioned the examination pattern and the academic council had endorsed it, he said. He said the university would not succumb to students’ pressure as it had made up its mind to discourage copy culture with the help of the new exam pattern.

Teachers demand salary

A large number of primary schoolteachers (PSTs) held a demonstration outside the press club here on Friday in protest against the Sindh government’s failure to release salary to 226 teachers who had not been paid for eight months.

The protesters’ leaders Zubair Brohi, Intisar Phull and Ayoub Kalhoro urged the secretary of education to save families of 226 teachers from starvation by releasing their salaries. They would widen the protest if their cries went unheeded, they warned.

Daraza incident condemned

The workers of Larkana chapter of Khaksar Tehreek took out a rally on Friday to condemn Daraza Sharif killings on the election day.

The Tehreek leader Deedar Shaikh, who led the rally which covered three kilometres on foot before terminating outside the press club, held the government responsible for the tragic incident.

He said the inept rulers failed to put in place effective security measures for election day. It was painful to see the killers were still free, they said, calling for the early arrest of the assailants and bringing them to justice.

He criticised the fragile law and order situation, uncontrolled rise in prices of essential commodities and soaring unemployment which tended to develop suicidal tendencies in the youth.

He said that regretfully the party which raised the slogan of ‘Roti kapra aur makan’ was out to displace old inhabitants residing on Railway property.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2015

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