KOHAT: The examinations at the Kohat University of Science and Technology (Kust) were postponed on Saturday amid continuing protests by the students for acceptance of their demands, including construction of two hostels and cut in fee and fines.

The protest, which started on Thursday, was being led by Kust Students Union which vowed to continue it for indefinite period if their demands were not accepted. The exams were due to start from Monday.

The public relations office of the university, which is without a vice-chancellor and dean for the last several months, termed the strike uncalled for and the demands illegal. It asked the students to return to the examinations and classes to save their own future. It alleged that a mob of Afridi students had jeopardised the examinations and classes.

The students, who pulled down the main gate of the university from its pillars during the protest, also set a deadline of Monday for acceptance of their demands after which they had warned to block the Indus Highway and boycott the classes and exams.

The students are demanding cut in fee and fines besides two more hostels

No FIR has been registered against the students who broke the varsity gate, Jarma police station SHO told this correspondent on phone.

A union leader, requesting anonymity, said that they had started their protest on Thursday last, but since then nobody came to listen to their concerns. He said that they had been presenting their demands to the administration for the last one year, but none had been accepted so far rather fines and fee had been increased.

The student union has also been demanding lifting of heavy fines on ceased programmes and end to collection of private fund at the Institute of Management Sciences.

He said that the administration collected an amount equal to half of the admission fee if a student failed in two consecutive semesters and allowed the affected students to clear the failed papers and get their degree. However, the union demanded that the students should be given at least four credit hours to clear their papers instead of two hours.

The students complained that the university did not arrange papers in summer semester as required under the rules, which resulted in delay in getting their degrees.

The students said that under the rules fines should be between Rs2,000 and Rs3,000 whereas the administration was imposing heavy fines ranging from Rs8,000 to Rs10,000, only on IMS students.

They said that the university had 12 buses for pick and drop of the students and staff, but these were kept engaged for private use of the staff.

They alleged that some people were illegally occupying hostel rooms, but the administration was reluctant to expel them. They said that the university had only two hostels and demanded that two more hostels should be constructed to accommodate the increasing number of students instead of sending them to private hostels.

They objected to the rising fee whereas facilities like internet service and generators were not being provided to them. They demanded a full-time doctor, nurses and proper medicines at the health care centre of the university. They also alleged that the university was being run by a junior professor as its acting VC.

Published in Dawn, November 16th , 2014