PESHAWAR: The students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science (BS) programme of the botany department of the University of Peshawar have demanded that their classes be held on the main campus instead of the far-flung research centre in Nowshera district.

“We go early in the morning to attend classes and come back in the evening. We are much exhausted by the two-hour journey every day,” said a student, who along with a group of students demanded the start of their BS classes on the university’s main campus.

Around 170 students, including 80 women, ride the bus on the main campus at around 7am daily for Azakhel area of Nowshera to attend BS classes. The centre was established on 689 kanals of land as a botanical garden in 2005 at a cost of Rs20 million. The facility is used by MPhil and PhD students for research.

The students enrolled in the BS programme of the botany department said they had been attending classes at Azkhel’s centre, where four rooms have been allocated for them.

Demand classes of their BS programme be held on main campus

They however expressed a lack of interest in studies due to the tiresome journey to the centre from Peshawar on a daily basis. The students said commuting between UoP and CPB had been so exhaustive that they were unable to concentrate on studies.

“When I was getting admission to the BS Botany programme, I did not know that I would be signing up for this tiresome commuting,” said a student. Another student said since he had joined the classes, he had not enjoyed a single day of the university’s life.

“It looks as if we are still in school,” he said hinting at the routine of getting up early, boarding bus for the far-away centre and returning home late. He said he was sick of the daily commuting and his class fellows didn’t feel any different.

The disgruntled students said the university should arrange for BS classes on the main campus. They demanded that the vice chancellor and chancellor, who was also the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor, step in and end misery of students.

When contacted, the spokesman for the University of Peshawar said students knew about where the classes would take place when they got admission in the BS programme.

“There is a full-fledged department of botany at the CPB. It is an internationally-recognised centre,” he said, adding that the University of Peshawar was planning to establish a second campus on a piece of land adjacent to the CPB.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2015