Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), which has always been the first choice for high achieving, middle class students, made several headlines for its mismanagement this year.

The way the administration handled some issues including fee hikes, proposing the selling of university land, the removal of a senior faculty member and the decision to close the linguistic department, has drawn criticism from students and faculty members alike.

Students of the linguistics department have been staging protests for several weeks against the administration’s decision to close the department for good.

The university got its decision approved from syndicate, without getting approval from the Academic Council for closing down the only pure language department in the country.

The university remained closed on Tuesday and Wednesday when hundreds of students staged massive protests against the unprecedented fee hikes.

In September of this year, the varsity increased its fee by 20 to 25 per cent, which was completely against the policy of the Higher Education Commission, which stipulates that a public sector university cannot increase fee by more than 10 per cent in a year.

According to students of the university, there are also problems with internet connections and that there is no hot water in the hostels. A faculty member said the administration should take faculty members on board when making major decisions.

“The unrest has been damaging the prestige of the country’s top university”, he said.

However, the university’s administration on Wednesday finally convinced students to call off their protest and classes will resume from Monday onwards.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2015