ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) management for ‘shutting down’ the Master of Science (MSc) programme and denying fresh admissions.

Warda Asif, the petitioner, cited the Higher Education Commission (HEC) vice chancellor and the education ministry as respondents.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up the petition and after preliminary hearing sought replies from the respondents.

Qazi Khalilur Rehman, the counsel for the petitioner, adopted before the court that despite the availability of 32 PhD professors at the chemistry department and ongoing classes of MSc Part-II, the university administration had refused admissions to new students in MSc chemistry.

The counsel said it appeared that the university had shut down the MSc chemistry programme without any notice. He said the QAU administration stopped admission since July but assured the students that applications would be received by January.

However, now the management has categorically refused to give admissions in MSc chemistry, he added.

This would destroy the future of hundreds of students who have written letters to the chancellor, the prime minister and the chairman HEC but to no avail, the counsel said.

The HEC in response to the letter stated that all universities and colleges had been instructed to abolish the MSc programme from 2020 and replace it with MS programme. The BSc programme would be replaced with BS, he added.

The counsel said the university continued BSc even in 2019 but refused admission to the MSc programme. The court adjourned the matter till a date to be fixed by the registrar office.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2019